Estimating the mechanical effects of riparian vegetation on stream bank stability using a fiber bundle model

Recent research has suggested that the roots of riparian vegetation dramatically increase the geomechanical stability (i.e., factor of safety) of stream banks. Past research has used a perpendicular root reinforcement model that assumes that all of the tensile strength of the roots is mobilized instantaneously at the moment of bank failure. In reality, as a soil‐root matrix shears, the roots contained within the soil have different tensile strengths and thus break progressively, with an associated redistribution of stress as each root breaks. This mode of progressive failure is well described by fiber bundle models in material science. In this paper, we apply a fiber bundle approach to tensile strength data…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture