Numerical modeling of translational dynamics for shallow landslides based on flume tests – special case of spherical-cap-shaped slope sections

Abstract

Slope failures can endanger human life and cause infrastructural destruction and socioeconomic loss. Geoscientists have strived to develop constitutive models and real-time slope monitoring models and systems to abate these processes. Most research studies have proposed models which describe the dynamics of wedge-shaped soil masses which do not mimic real field conditions. In this study, failure dynamics of spherical-cap-shaped soil masses on an inclined slope section undergoing purely translational displacement are described using empirical models derived from inertial forces in action for varying hydrological conditions. Validation of model results was done through experimental tests carried out on a laboratory flume. Empirical models representing rainfall intensity, soil water content, pore-water pressure, factor of safety, and displacement were derived. More pertinently, the empirical model for the factor of safety is derived considering the moist unit weight of the soil as opposed to earlier models which focused on saturated conditions only. Model and experimental results indicate close concurrence, especially for the factor of safety with root mean square error of 0.0385 and r2 of 0.6381. Since the models are physics based, they can be applied on a variety of rainfall-induced shallow landslides on relatively steep slopes.

Keywords

• translational failure
• numerical model
• shallow landslides