Run-out of landslides in brittle soils: an MPM anlysis

Abstract

In this paper a slope stability problem due to an increase of the pore pressure is analysed by means of the material point method (MPM). A strain softening model is implemented and the progressive failure is examined in terms of mobilized shear strain. A parametric study is performed varying the strength decay but maintaining a common peak envelope. The influence of the brittleness of the material, evaluated in terms of the brittleness index (IB) proposed by Bishop (1967), in run-out and velocity of unstable slopes is examined. The initiation of motion in the defined slope is observed for values of IB>0.5 and a well correlation between run-outs and brittleness is found. It can be concluded that MPM is able to simulate both the initiation of the failure and the post-failure stages.