Evaluation of Equivalent Peak Load for a Plant Species Using Root Perpendicular Model and Fiber Bundle Model

Vegetation cover has a significant role in holding soil mass and preventing rainfall-induced slope failures. Earlier researchers have studied the root characteristics for different vegetation species and correlated them to obtain various parameters for quantifying root reinforcement. Among them, the apparent root cohesion parameter has been adopted widely to study root reinforcement for soil erosion and shallow failures. Two different models, i.e., root perpendicular model and fiber bundle model (FBM) have been proposed, in the literature to quantify the mechanical reinforcement by roots in the soil mass. The root perpendicular model assumes catastrophic failure of roots of a species whereas the fiber bundle model assumes progressive failure. The present study compares the maximum equivalent load for Prunus Cerasoides species using both the models and the result was compared. The study concludes that the progressive failure assumption of the fiber bundle model resembles the precise nature of root failure when the soil is subjected to shear stresses whereas the individual root failure occurs according to the root tensile strength capacity and root diameter. However, to compensate for the over-estimation from both the models, the study highlights the significance of several roots and soil characteristics while adopting different models for root cohesion estimation.