Long runout mechanism of the Shenzhen 2015 landslide: insights from a two-phase flow viewpoint

Abstract

A catastrophic landslide occurred at Hongao dumpsite in Guangming New District of Shenzhen, South China, on December 20, 2015. An estimated total volume of 2.73x10(6) m(3) of construction spoils was mobilized during this event. The landslide traveled a long distance on a low-relief terrain. The affected area was approximately 1100 m in length and 630 m in width. This landslide made 33 buildings destroyed, 73 people died and 4 people lost. Due to the special dumping history and other factors, soil in this landfill is of high initial water content. To identify the major factors that attribute to the long runout character, a two-phase flow model of Iverson and George was used to simulate the dynamics of this landslide. The influence of initial hydraulic permeability, initial dilatancy, and earth pressure coefficient was examined through numerical simulations. We found that pore pressure has the most significant effect on the dynamic characteristics of Shenzhen landslides. Average pore pressure ratio of the whole basal surface was used to evaluate the degree of liquefaction for the sliding material. The evolution and influence factors of this ratio were analyzed based on the computational results. An exponential function was proposed to fit the evolution curve of the average pore pressure ratio, which can be used as a reasonable and simplified evaluation of the pore pressure. This fitting function can be utilized to improve the single-phase flow model.