Advertisement

Landslides

, Volume 16, Issue 12, pp 2369–2379 | Cite as

A study on the effect of rainfall and slope characteristics on landslide initiation by means of flume tests

  • Jacob CoganEmail author
  • Ivan Gratchev
Original Paper
First Online:
  • 177 Downloads

Abstract

Landslide initiation has multiple preconditional, preparatory and triggering factors, including rainfall intensity, slope angle and slope moisture content. Previous literature only considers a singular variable in effecting failure. This study shows trends typical of previous literature whilst considering how an amalgamation of assorted variables collaborate to effect failure. To better understand the influences of these factors, a series of tests were conducted using a flume device, employed in the generation of modelled single soil layer slope failures. Experiments were performed in 3 series, determined by rainfall intensity (40, 70 and 100 mm/h) and within these series, alterations were made between slope angle (45–55°) and initial moisture content (5–12%). Failure times occurred once pore water pressure had peaked at positive values, as well as, moisture content equalised throughout the slope. Variations in failure time occurred when altering slope angle and initial moisture content. Increasing the initial moisture content created faster failures whilst slopes inclined 45° failed faster with the exception of 100 mm/h intensity experiments. Initial failure times were summarised and used to develop an intensity-duration threshold function of I = 80.065D−0.596.

Keywords

Landslide initiation Flume tests Shear strength Pore water pressure Intensity-duration threshold 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following people for the assistance and guidance in the construction of this paper; Jovita Citra, for flume lab experimentation setup and field investigation, Yaxu Liu, for assistance in field research and monitoring of site moisture conditions and Griffith University Technical staff for aiding in the construction of the flume instrumentation.

Funding

This research was performed with the financial support of the Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (GUPRS) and the Griffith University Short Term Visiting Research Fellowship.

References

  1. Acharya G, Cochrane T, Davies T, Bowman E (2009) The influence of shallow landslides on sediment supply: a flume-based investigation using sandy soil. Eng Geol 109:161–169CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Ahmadi-adli M, Huvaj N, Toker N (2017) Rainfall-triggered landslides in an unsaturated soil: a laboratory flume study. Environ Earth Sci (76):735Google Scholar
  3. Australian standard (1998) AS 1289.6.2.2: Methods of testing soils for engineering purposes–soil strength and consolidation tests–determination of shear strength of a soil–direct shear test using a shear boxGoogle Scholar
  4. Australian standard (2009) AS 1289.3.6.1: Methods of testing soils for engineering purposes–soil classification tests–determination of the particle size distribution of a soil–standard method of analysis by sievingGoogle Scholar
  5. Bishop AW (1973) The influence of an undrained change in stress on the pore pressure in porous media of low compressibility. Géotechnique 23(3):435–442CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Brand EW, Premchitt J, Phillipson HB (1984) Relationship between rainfall and landslides in Hong Kong. In: Proc. 4th Int. Symp. On Landslides, Downsview, Ontario, Canada, pp 377–384Google Scholar
  7. Caine N (1980) The rainfall intensity: duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows. Geogr Ann Ser A Phys Geogr 26(1/2):23–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Chang K, Chiang S (2009) An integrated model for predicting rainfall-induced landslides. Geomorphology 105:366–373CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Chien-Yuan C, Tien-Chien C, Fan-Chieh Y, Wen-Hui Y, Chun-Chieh T (2005) Rainfall duration and debris-flow initiated studies for real-time monitoring. Environ Geol 47:715–724CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Cogan J, Gratchev I, Wang G (2018) Rainfall-induced shallow landslides caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie, 31st March 2017. Landslides 15:1215–1221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Collins B, Znidarcic D (2004) Stability analysis of rainfall-induced landslides. J Geotech Geoenviron 130(4):362–372CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Corominas J, Moya J (1999) Reconstructing recent landslide activity in relation to rainfall in the Llobregat River basin, Eastern Pyrenees, Spain. Geomorphology 30:79–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Craig RF (2004) Craig’s soil mechanics. New Fetter Lane, LondonGoogle Scholar
  14. Crosta G, di Prisco C (1998) On slope instability induced by seepage erosion. Can Geotech J 36:1056–1073CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Dahal R, Hasegawa S (2008) Representative rainfall thresholds for landslides in the Nepal Himalaya. Geomorphology 100:429–443CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Fan W, Deng L (2018) Failure modes and mechanisms of shallow debris landslides using an artificial rainfall model experiment on Qin-ba Mountain. Int J Geomech 18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Fourie AB (1996) Predicting rainfall-induced slope instability. Proc Inst Civ Eng Geotech Eng 119(4):211–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Greco R, Guida A, Damiano E, Olivares L (2010) Soil water content and suction monitoring in model slopes for shallow flowslides early warning applications. Phys Chem Earth 35:127–136CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Kim HD, Gratchev I, Balasubramaniam A (2013) Determination of joint roughness coefficient (JRC) for slope stability analysis; a case study from the Gold Coast area, Australia. Landslides 10(5):657–664CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Kim HD, Gratchev I, Balasubramaniam A (2014a) A photogrammetric approach for stability analysis of weathered rock slopes. Geotech Geol Eng 33(3):443–454CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Kim HD, Gratchev I, Balasubramaniam A (2014b) Back analysis of a natural jointed rock slope based on the photogrammetry method. Landslides 12(1):147–154CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Larsen M, Simon A (1993) A rainfall intensity–duration threshold for landslides in a humid-tropical environment. Puerto Rico. Geogr Ann Ser A Phys Geogr 75:13–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Lourenco S, Sassa K, Fukuoka H (2006) Failure process and hydrologic response of a two-layer physical model: implications for rainfall-induced landslides. Geomorphology 73:115–130CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Moriwaki H, Inokuchi T, Hattanji T, Sassa K, Ochiai H, Wang G (2004) Failure process in a full-scale landslide experiment using a rainfall simulator. Landslides:277–288Google Scholar
  25. Moser M, Hohensinn F (1983) Geotechnical aspects of soil slips in Alpine regions. Eng Geol 19:185–211CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Okura Y, Kitahara H, Ochiai H, Sammori T, Kawanami A (2002) Landslide fluidization process by flume experiments. Eng Geol 66:65–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Olivares L, Damiano E, Greco R, Zeni L, Picarelli L, Minardo A, Guida A, Bernini R (2009) An instrument flume to investigate the mechanics of rainfall-induced landslides in unsaturated granular soils. Geotechnical Testing Journal 32(2): 108–118Google Scholar
  28. Peruccacci S, Brunetti M, Gariano S, Melillo M, Rossi M, Guzzetti F (2017) Rainfall thresholds for possible landslides occurrence in Italy. Geomorphology 290):39–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Ravindran S, Gratchev I, Jeng D (2018) Prediction of shear strength of unsaturated soils in landslide-prone areas using direct shear and suction tests under low normal stress condition. Proc. of the 7th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Hong KongGoogle Scholar
  30. Saito H, Nakayama D, Matsuyama H (2010) Relationship between the initiation of a shallow landslide and rainfall intensity-duration thresholds in Japan. Geomorphology 118:167–175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Sassa K (1974) Analysis on slope stability: II. Mainly on the basis of the indoor experiments using the standard sand produced in Toyoura, Japan. J Jpn Soc Erosion Control Eng 26(3):8–19 (in Japanese with English abstractGoogle Scholar
  32. Sassa K (1984) The mechanism starting liquefied landslides and debris flows. Proceedings of 4th International Symposium on Landslides, Toronto, Canada, vol 2, pp 349–354Google Scholar
  33. Sassa K, Rouhban B, Briceno S, McSaveney M, He B (2013) Landslides: global risk preparedness.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22,087-6
  34. Shokouhi A, Gratchev I, Kim D (2013) Rock slope stability problems in Gold Coast area, Australia. Int J Geomate 4(1):501–504Google Scholar
  35. Terzaghi K (1925) Principles of soil mechanics. Engineering News Record Vol. 95 Nos. 19–23, 25–27, pp. 742–746, 796–800, 832–836, 874–878, 912–915, 987–990, 1026–1029, 1064–1068. Google Scholar
  36. Tsaparas I, Rahardjo H, Toll D, Leong E (2002) Controlling parameters for rainfall-induced landslides. Comput Geotech 29:1–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Wang G, Sassa K (2001) Factors affecting rainfall-induced flowslides in laboratory flume tests. Geotechnique 51(7):587–599CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Wang G, Sassa K (2003) Pore-pressure generation and movement of rainfall-induced landslides: effects of grain size and fine-particle content. Eng Geol 69(1):109–125.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-7952(02)00268-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Griffith UniversityGold CoastAustralia

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options