Stability Evaluation Study of Foamed Mortar Embankment for Incline Road Rehabilitation Using the Finite Element Method

Road infrastructure in hilly areas connecting cities to support economic growth will have a non-standard geometry alignment. Incline road rehabilitation can be overcome by constructing embankments using selected materials combined with retaining structures or innovations like foamed mortar. Foam mortar has more advantages, like the lower unit weight and greater shear strength than the selected material. Stability analysis of foam mortar embankment on slopes is still a challenge to be solved. This study will evaluate stability using a finite element program that has proven reliable for solving various geotechnical problems, especially slope stability. The analysis was conducted for two dimensions in static and dynamic conditions. The foam mortar material with 800 and 2000 kPa in compressive strength was modelled linear elastic, while the soil was modelled as the Mohr–Coulomb. The existing road embankment has 4 m and 1V:0.8H for the height and slope, respectively. The analysis results show that the safety factor value for each construction stage still meets the minimum criteria of SNI 8460:2017 in static and dynamic conditions. The failure lines tend to be under the foam mortar clusters, most likely due to the greater stiffness and shear strength characteristics. The finite element analysis results provide a good understanding of the behavior pattern of foam mortar materials for embankments on slope areas.