Study on the mechanisms of slope failure due to heavy rainfall by using laboratory and numerical models

Many slope failures occur during or after heavy rain. One of the main causes is considered to be the increase of pore pressure due to seepage of rainwater. Inorder to explicate the mechanism of these slope failures, a 1 g slope model tests, in which pore pressure distributions in the slope were measured and failure patterns observed, were carried out. In addition, both seepage analysis of rain water and stability of saturated slope by the finite element method was developed. As a result, numerical simulations were consistent with model tests and it was confirmed that the two-dimensional FEM analysis which considered the discontinuity between the base layer and soil layer, and reduction of the cohesion at elements directly affected by piping, was an effective analysis method for prediction of the failure mechanism of slopes.