Abstract
Centrifuge model tests on slopes subject to shaking and rainfall have been performed to examine the response of slopes with shaking-induced cracks to subsequent rainfall and evaluate the corresponding landslide-triggering mechanisms. The failure pattern of the slope subject to shaking and then rainfall was found different from that of the slope subject to only rainfall. When shaking caused cracks on the slope shoulder and rupture line below, the mobilized soil slid along the slip surface that extended to the rupture line, the main crack became the crown of the undisturbed ground once the slope was subject to a subsequent rain event, and the progression of the landslide was related to the rainfall intensity. During the landslide caused by light rainfall, the main scarp kept exposing itself in the vertically downward direction while the ground behind the main crack in the crack-containing slope remained undisturbed. The detrimental effect of cracks on soil displacement was more evident when the slope was exposed to heavy post-shaking rainfall, resulting in a rapid and massive landslide. Additionally, the volume of displaced material of the landslide, the main scarp area on the upper edge, and the zone of accumulation were larger in the crack-containing slope subject to heavy rainfall, in comparison with those in the crack-free slope. The deformation pattern of slopes with shaking-induced cracks during rainfall was closely related to rainfall intensity and the factor of safety provided a preliminary estimation of slope stability during rainfall. Moreover, even when subjected to the same rainfall, the slopes with antecedent shaking-induced cracks displayed different levels of deformation. The slope that experienced larger shaking had greater deformation under the following rainfall, and the shaking-induced slope deformation also controlled the slip surface location. Finally, the velocity of rainfall-induced landslide could be greatly influenced by the prior shaking event alone. Despite being under light rainfall, the slope that has encountered intense previous shaking exhibited an instant landslide.
Highlights
Earthquakes and rainfall are two common natural disasters causing landslides (Keefer 1984; Schuster et al 1996; Crosta 2004; Sassa et al 2015) in various mountainous areas worldwide
This study aimed to examine the effect of shaking-caused cracks on the behavior of slopes in response to subsequent rainfall and investigate how shaking intensity and rainfall intensity would impact the performance of slopes during post-shaking rainfall
Three series of centrifuge tests on 1:50 scale model slopes have been carried out to examine the response of slopes subject to rainfall with different intensities when they were exposed to antecedent shaking and evaluate the corresponding landslide-triggering mechanisms
Summary
Earthquakes and rainfall are two common natural disasters causing landslides (Keefer 1984; Schuster et al 1996; Crosta 2004; Sassa et al 2015) in various mountainous areas worldwide. Studies on rainfall-induced landslides or slope stability during rainfall have been conducted in different ways such as numerical analyses on the slope stability during rain infiltration (Cho and Lee 2001; Qi and Vanapalli 2015; Cai and Ugai 2004; Sharma and Nakagawa 2010; Tian et al 2017), large/small-scale model experiments (Wang and Sassa 2001; Montrasio and Valentino 2004; Sharma and Nakagawa 2010), field tests (Ng et al 2003; Springman et al 2013; Rahardjo et al 2005; Chen et al 2018), and centrifuge model tests (Take et al 2004; Tamate et al 2012; Bhattacherjee and Viswannadham 2018) These methods provided valuable guidance on landslide-related research and have been adopted by numerous researchers to investigate the response of slopes to earthquakes or rainfall
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