Effect of Velocity Profiles on the Thermo-Poro-Elastic Behavior within the Shear Zone of Landslides

Abstract

Frictional heating has long been considered as a mechanism responsible for the high velocities and long run-out of some large-scale landslides. In the shear zone, complex processes such as heat production and diffusion, pore-fluid pressure generation and dissipation, and soil skeleton deformation are coupled to each other. However the amount of heat produced by frictional heating is closely related to the relevant velocity in the shear zone. In this work, different vertical velocity profiles in the shear zone are used in the thermo-poro-elastic modeling of landslides. Their influences on heat production and diffusion process as well as pore pressure evolution have been analyzed. The results show that velocity profiles influence the generation of heat, hence the pore pressure profiles in the shear zone, which may lead to different sliding behaviors of landslides.