Failure Mechanism of Rock Slopes under Different Seismic Excitation

Abstract

In earthquake‐prone areas, special attention should be paid to the study of the seismic stability of rock slope. Particularly, it becomes much more complicated for the rock slopes with weak structural surfaces. In this study, numerical simulation and the shaking table test are carried out to analyze the influence of seismic excitation and structural surface in different directions on dynamic response of rock slope. Huaping slope with bedding structural surfaces and Lijiang slope with discontinuous structural surfaces besides Jinsha River in Yunnan Province are taken as research objects. The results of numerical simulation and the model test both show that discontinuous structure surface has influence on the propagation characteristics of seismic wavefield. For Huaping slope, the seismic wavefield responses repeatedly between the bedding structural surface and slope surface lead to the increase of the amplification effect. The maximum value of seismic acceleration appears on the empty surface where terrain changes. Horizontal motion plays a leading role in slope failure, and the amplification coefficient of horizontal seismic acceleration is about twice that of vertical seismic acceleration. The failure mode is integral sliding along the bedding structural surface. For Lijiang slope, seismic acceleration field affected by complex structural surface is superimposed repeatedly in local area. The maximum value of seismic acceleration appears in the local area near slope surface. And the dynamic response of slope is controlled by vertical and horizontal motion together. Under the seismic excitation with an intense of 0.336 g in X direction and Z direction, the amplification coefficients of seismic acceleration of Lijiang slope are 3.23 and 3.18, respectively. The vertical motion leads to the cracking of the weak structural surface. Then, Lijiang slope shows the toppling failure mode under the action of horizontal motion.