Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stability Analysis of Two-Dimensional Landslides Subjected to Seismic Loads

  • Published:
Acta Mechanica Solida Sinica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the past, the pseudo-static method used to be the most common for evaluating the stability of landslides under seismic loads, in which static forces acting on the center of gravity of a sliding body are used to consider the effects of earthquake. However, seismic loads of rock and soil differ from time and location to time and location. Obviously, it is irrational for the pseudo-static approach to be applied to solving dynamic problems. In this paper, a displacement-pseudo-dynamic model is proposed to assess seismic stability of landslides, in which the sinusoidal-cosinusoidal wave is applied to simulating earthquake displacement, and an “amplification factor” of peak seismic displacement is referred to as the amplification of seismic wave when it propagates from the bottom to the top of the landslide. The effects of physico-mechanical behaviors of a sliding body on seismic stability of soil slopes are taken into account as well as inertia forces and damping forces. The sensitivity analyses on the permanent displacement and the dynamic factor of safety of landslides are studied in detail. Moreover, a large-scale Tangjiashan landslide that occurred in Wenchuan earthquake is investigated to verify the robustness and precision of the present method. It is found that the results from the present method is in good agreement with those from the previous method.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cruden, D.M., A simple definition of a landslide. In: Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology, 1991, 43: 27–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. David, K.K., Statistical analysis of an earthquake-induced landslide distribution: the 1989 Loma Prieta. Engineering Geology, 2000, 58(3–4): 231–249.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mohammad, R.A., Faradjollah, A. and Orang, F., Seismic behavior of slopes by lower bound dynamic shakedown theory. Computers and Geotechnics, 2012, 39: 107–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Robert, H., Dinand, A. and Gerard, A.M.K., et al., Influence of earthquakes on the stability of slopes. Engineering Geology, 2007, 91(1): 4–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Terzaghi, K. and Engineer, C., et al., Mechanism of Landslides. Harvard University, Department of Engineering, 1951, 83–123.

  6. Baker, R., Sufficient conditions for existence of physically significant solutions in limiting equilibrium slope stability analysis. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 2003, 40(13–14): 3717–3735.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  7. Robert, S. and Rafael, B., Design implications of the vertical pseudo-static coefficient in slope analysis. Computers and Geotechnics, 2008, 35(1): 86–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Grelle, G., Revellino P. and Guadagno, F.M., Methodology for seismic and post-seismic stability assessment of natural clay slopes based on a viscoplastic behaviour model in simplified dynamic analysis. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 2011, 31(9): 1248–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Seed, H.B., Consideration in the earthquake-resistant design of earth and rockfill dams. Geotechnique, 1979, 29(3): 215–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Newmark, N.M., Effects of earthquakes on dams and embankments. Geotechnique, 1965, 15(2): 139–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ambraseys, N.N. and Mena, J.M., Earthquake-induced ground displacements. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 1988, 16(7): 985–1006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Richard, R. and Elms, D.G., Seismic behavior of gravity retaining walls. Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, 1979, 105(4): 449–464.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Makdisi, F.I. and Seed, H.B., Simplified procedure for estimating dam and embankment earthquake induced deformations. In: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Soil Erosion and Sediment by Water, Chicago, Illinois, 1977, 125–136.

  14. Nawari, O., Hartmann, R. and Lackner, R., Stability analysis of rock slopes with the direct sliding blocks method. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 1997, 34(3–4): 220.el–220.e8.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bouckovalas, G.B. and Papadimitriou, A.G., Numerical evaluation of slope topography effects on seismic ground motion. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 2005, 25(7/10): 547–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zeng, X. and Steedman, R.S., Rotating block method for seismic displacement of gravity walls. Journal of Geotechical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2000, 126(8): 709–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Choudhury, D. and Nimbalkar, S.S., Seismic passive resistance by pseudo-dynamic method. Geotechnique, 2005, 55: 699–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Basha, B.M. and Babu, G.L., Computation of sliding displacements of bridge abutments by pseudo-dynamic method. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 2009, 29(1): 103–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Morgenstern, N.R. and Price, V.E., The analysis of the stability of general slip surfaces. Geotechnique, 1965, 15(1): 79–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Deng, Y.H., Research on Solving Methods, Characteristics and Applications of Layered Soil Site’S Natural Frequency. Zhejiang University, 2007. (in Chinese)

  21. Zhu, D.Y. and Lee, C.F., Explicit limit equilibrium solution for slope stability. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 2002, 26(15): 1573–1590.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  22. Baker, R., Shukha, R. abd Operstein, V., et al., Stability charts for pseudo-static slope stability analysis. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 2006, 26(9): 813–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Yang, H.J., Wang, J.H. and Liu, Y.Q., A new approach for the slope stability analysis. Mechanics Research Communications, 2001, 28(6): 653–669.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. Yin, Y., Zheng, W. and Li, X., et al., Catastrophic landslides associated with the M8. 0 Wenchuan earthquake. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 2011, 70(1): 15–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Xu, Q., Fan, X.M. and Huang, R.Q., et al., Landslide dams triggered by the Wenchuan Earthquake, Sichuan Province, south west China. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 2009, 68(3): 373–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hu, X.W., Luo, G. and Huang, R.Q., et al. Study of Stability of Remnant Mountain Body in Back Scarp of Tangjiashan Landslide after ‘5.12’ Wenchuan Earthquake. Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, 2009, 28(11), 2349–2359. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Steedman, R.S. and Zeng, X., The influence of phase on the calculation of pseudo-static earth pressure on a retaining wall. Geotechnique, 1990, 40(1), 103–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gao, Y.F., Zhang, N. and Li, D.Y., et al., Effects of topographic amplification induced by a U-shaped canyon on seismic waves. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 2012, 102(4), 1748–1763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, 400045, Chongqing, China

    Xiaoping Zhou, Hao Cheng & Haipeng Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Areas, Ministry of Education, 400045, Chongqing, China

    Xiaoping Zhou, Hao Cheng & Haipeng Zhang

  3. Engineering Institute of National Defense Engineering, PLA University of Science and Technology, 210007, Nanjing, China

    Qihu Qian

  4. State Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation of Explosion & Impact PLA University of Science and Technology, 210007, Nanjing, China

    Qihu Qian

Authors
  1. Xiaoping Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qihu Qian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hao Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Haipeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoping Zhou.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51325903 and 51279218), Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (Nos. CSTC2013KJRC-1JCCJ30001 and CSTC2015jcyjys30001) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. CDJXS12201108).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhou, X., Qian, Q., Cheng, H. et al. Stability Analysis of Two-Dimensional Landslides Subjected to Seismic Loads. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 28, 262–276 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0894-9166(15)30013-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0894-9166(15)30013-6

Key Words

Search

Navigation