Department of Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad&nbsp;(IIT Palakkad or IIT PKD) is a public autonomous&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;and&nbsp;research&nbsp;institute located in&nbsp;Palakkad,&nbsp;Kerala. It was&nbsp;one of the five new&nbsp;IITs&nbsp;proposed in the&nbsp;2014 Union budget of India. The campus was inaugurated on 3 August 2015. The institute has 94 faculty, 978 students, and 63 non-teaching staffs.

IT Palakkad currently offers four-year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and two years MS programmes in 8 different engineering disciplines including&nbsp;Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil among others.

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IIT Palakkad

World University root node

In book: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 476, pp 301–312,

Digital soil mapping of residual lateritic soils in Kerala using interpolation methods

Natural Geo-Disasters and Resiliency

Regional Modelling of a Rainfall-Induced Landslide in Idukki, Kerala by Incorporating Unsaturated Soil Properties: Case Study

The primary objective of the current study is to shed light on specific instances of failures or inadequate performance of geosynthetic-reinforced MSE walls situated in the state of Kerala, India. The research also puts forth potential remedial actions and precautions. It is noteworthy that a majority of these failures of geosynthetic-reinforced MSE walls in Kerala occurred either during or following the monsoon season. The primary factors contributing to these failures were identified as the utilization of locally available marginal lateritic soils in the backfill, insufficient management of external and internal drainage systems, suboptimal filter and drain designs, inadequate compaction of foundation soil, and the lack of necessary ground improvement measures prior to commencing MSE wall construction. The corrective measures proposed include structural repairs involving compaction grouting and soil nailing, reconstruction, and the implementation of stone columns, among others. To mitigate the ingress of rainwater into low-permeability backfill material, preventive measures are suggested for both during and after construction. Rainfall infiltration has been linked to undesirable deformations and bulging in MSE walls. During construction, the backfill can be covered at the end of each workday, and post-construction, a geomembrane layer can be employed to seal the surface. Additionally, a reduction in interface shear strength resulting from the loss of suction due to rain-induced wetting should be considered when utilizing marginal lateritic soil as the backfill for MSE walls. Furthermore, the study found that stone columns effectively enhance the bearing capacity and drainage of compressible clay foundations beneath MSE walls. The reconstruction of a collapsed MSE wall underscores the significance of thorough site investigation and the adoption of appropriate ground improvement measures when necessary.

Indian Geotechnical Journal

Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Structures: Forensic Investigation on Failures and Remedial Measures

Natural Fibres: A Sustainable Material for Geotextile Applications

Locally available marginal soil has been widely used as backfills due to the non-availability of granular soil. The performance of MSE walls at the end of construction with marginal lateritic soil as backfill was studied by conducting numerical model studies. Two types of reinforcements, viz., conventional geogrids and hybrid geogrids, were used in the present study. Recent evidences of adverse impacts of climate change necessitate the need for adaptation of MSE walls to changing climate, especially when backfilled with marginal soils. A coupled flow-deformation analysis was conducted on MSE walls with geogrids (GW) and hybrid geogrids (HGW) as reinforcements. Considering the lack of the experimental data which quantify the hydraulic and mechanical response of marginal lateritic backfills during rainfall-induced wetting, a physical model test was also conducted and presented herein. Results show that the backfill suction in GW was lost at the end of 4&nbsp;days of continuous heavy rainfall, but it was maintained in case of HGW even at the end of 10&nbsp;days of rainfall infiltration. Rainfall infiltration increased the facing deformation and surface settlement by 37% and 97%, respectively, in the case of MSE wall reinforced with the conventional geogrids (GW). However, hybrid geogrids (HGW) delayed the progression of wetting front and have prevented the backfill to undergo deformation. In GW, reinforcement strain has reached a maximum of 2.1% at the end of 10&nbsp;days of rainfall, whereas it was observed to be only 0.8% in case of HGW. Increment in reinforcement tensile load due to rainwater infiltration is 63% lower for HGW when compared with GW. Overall, the performance of MSE walls with marginal backfills was improved using hybrid geogrids due to the dissipation of excess pore water pressure.

International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering

Coupled Flow-Deformation Analysis of MSE Wall Reinforced with Hybrid Geogrids

Influence of Suction on the Interface Characteristics of Unsaturated Marginal Lateritic Soil Backfills with Composite Geosynthetics

Landslides triggered by rainfall are becoming major threat in residual soil slopes worldwide. Several rainfall triggered shallow landslides were reported in residual soil slopes of Idukki in Kerala, India, during monsoon. Existing slope susceptibility maps and rainfall thresholds are generally based on statistical methods, which seek empirical relations between the geomorphological, topographical, geological and environmental factors with the past landslides, without taking into consideration the geotechnical properties of the soil. Both saturated and unsaturated soil properties are important in analyzing the stability of residual soil slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration. In the present study, a landslide susceptibility model was developed for a region in Idukki by using two physical-process based models, TRIGRS (transient rainfall infiltration and grid-based regional slope-stability) and Scoops3D, which have the potential to incorporate both saturated and unsaturated soil properties in the regional modelling analysis. Transient rainfall infiltration analysis was performed using TRIGRS and the resulting pore water pressure profiles imported in Scoops3D for stability analysis. The developed model was validated with past rainfall event of August 2018, which was responsible for many landslides at Idukki, India. Predicted and the observed landslide points were compared against each other in both temporal and spatial perspectives using LRclassindex. The results show that the models have a good capability of landslide prediction and therefore, these can be used for the development of both slope susceptibility map and in designing of warning system against the rainfall induced landslides.

ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication GSP 338, ASCE

Incorporation of Unsaturated Soil Properties in the Prediction of Rainfall Induced Landslides Using TRIGRS and Scoops3D Models

Nineth Indian Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference 2023

Stabilization of soft clay using a sustainable binder

Slope failures due to rainfall are common nowadays in India, especially in Kerala. During the monsoon period, landslides have been reported along the residual soil slopes in many hilly districts of Kerala. Slope failures in unsaturated lateritic soil during rainfall are mainly caused by loss of suction due to the advancement of wetting front. Several methods are available for slope stabilization including structural and non-structural elements such as retaining walls, gabion walls, geosynthetic reinforcements, and soil nailing. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the influence of living soil nails in controlling the rainfall-induced slope failures in lateritic soil. The soil used in the present study was collected from a location in Kerala, where a landslide had occurred in the year 2018. Results from the present study indicated that the living soil nails are effective in natural disaster reduction.

In book: Earth Retaining Structures and Stability Analysis

Living Soil Nails to Prevent Shallow Landslides in Lateritic Soil Slopes

Proceedings of Indian geotechnical conference 2022

Stabilization of steep slopes using geocells