Seismic failure mechanisms for loaded slopes with associated and nonassociated flow rules

Abstract

Seismic failure mechanisms were investigated for soil slopes subjected to strip load with upper bound method of limit analysis and finite difference method of numerical simulation, considering the influence of associated and nonassociated flow rules. Quasi-static representation of soil inertia effects using a seismic coefficient concept was adopted for seismic failure analysis. Numerical study was conducted to investigate the influences of dilative angle and earthquake on the seismic failure mechanisms for the loaded slope, and the failure mechanisms for different dilation angles were compared. The results show that dilation angle has influences on the seismic failure surfaces, that seismic maximum displacement vector decreases as the dilation angle increases, and that seismic maximum shear strain rate decreases as the dilation angle increases.