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Initiation and Displacement Analysis of Cohesive Soil Slopes by Discrete Element Modelling

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Abstract

Kinematic and static analysis of geotechnical problems using the DEM has been widely accepted in the research arena for many years; however, its routine use in geotechnical practice for slope stability analysis still remains limited. This study focuses on the behavior of cohesive soil slopes undergoing failure initiation and succedent run-out. The numerical simulations of a supposititious slope composed of homogeneous cohesive soil were conducted using the DEM. The cohesive soil was simulated using contact-bonded graded aggregates of diameters ranging from 80 to 160 mm. This study investigated the microcrack-growth, particle displacements, particle movement and porosity changes within the slope fill. The simulation results showed that the failure mechanism is a rotational one at the failure initiation stage and gradually transfer to a slide/flow mode as progressive failure occurs. The porosity of deposit mass increased remarkably as result of dilation and block void. The run-out behavior of failure mass is not very sensitive with the viscous damping constant.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Project No. 2013CB733201), the STS project of CAS (Project No. KFJ-EW-STS-094), the “hundred talents” program of CAS (Su Lijun) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 41472293, 91430105). These supports are greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, CAS, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xinpo Li, Yong Wu & Lijun Su

  2. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xinpo Li, Yong Wu & Lijun Su

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chengdu, China

    Lijun Su

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  1. Xinpo Li
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  2. Yong Wu
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  3. Lijun Su
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Correspondence to Xinpo Li.

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Li, X., Wu, Y. & Su, L. Initiation and Displacement Analysis of Cohesive Soil Slopes by Discrete Element Modelling. Geotech Geol Eng 35, 693–705 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-016-0134-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-016-0134-3

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