Seismically progressive motion mechanism of earth slopes considering shear band porewater pressure feedback under earthquake excitations

Abstract

The complicated seismic response of earth slopes and the transition mechanism from progressive to catastrophic motion of landslides have long been recognized as one of the most challenging research topics in geotechnical earthquake engineering. In this paper, this fundamental conundrum will be tentatively unveiled from a new perspective combining the seismic slope displacement analysis with (mechanical) dynamic porewater pressure feedback of the shear band soils against the earthquake excitation. We present both the conceptual scheme and the calculation framework to numerically study the dynamic changes of porewater pressure, shear strength parameters, and hydraulic properties of the shear band soils. Their significant influences to the change of earthquake-induced landslide movement modes are systematically investigated. Different dilation angles are chosen to characterize the shear dilation and shear contraction processes in the shear band soil, while the dynamic porewater pressure feedback in the shear band soil during the continuous seismic displacement is investigated. The results show that the seismic slope displacement and failure strongly depend on the mechanical feedback of the shear band soil. When the dilation angle is positive, the porewater pressure feedback in the shear band during the slope movement is negative, and the effective resistance stress increases, which is not susceptible to catastrophic motion. On the other hand, when the dilation angle is negative, the positive porewater pressure feedback may lead to catastrophic failure. At last, the effects of shear softening/hardening combined with dilation angle evolution on the ultimate slope movement mode are also put forward.