Currently, studies on Xinjiang desert water conveyance channels primarily focus on the selection of construction technologies, with the effects of bank slope reinforcement and the impact of internal and external factors on slope stability remaining unclear. This study utilizes finite element method to analyze the safety coefficient, overall displacement, and equivalent plastic zone of aeolian soil bank slopes before and after reinforcement during three distinct phases: the completion phase, the water transfer phase, and the water level plunge phase. Orthogonal tests were used to assess the trend and weighting of the influence of factors on bank slopes inside and outside the channel using the introduction of corrected range and Spearman correlation analysis. The findings indicate that the safety coefficient for the bank slopes of the desert channel both before and after reinforcement exceeds 1.30 during all phases. Post-reinforcement, the overall displacement and equivalent plastic zone are controlled compared to the pre-reinforced state. Both sensitivity analyses yielded that the factors affecting the weighting of bank slopes were, in descending order, aeolian soil cohesion > slope angle > angle of internal friction > slope height > unit-weight > thickness of concrete lining > height of the water level in the channel > rate of water level plunge; where aeolian soil cohesion, slope angle, angle of internal friction and thickness of concrete lining favoured the stability of the bank slopes, while others were unfavourable to the stability of the bank slopes. This study aims to provide a reference for the construction of desert water supply projects.
