Journal Article

A two-step dynamic FEM-FELA approach for seismic slope stability assessment

Herz, Charlotte, Staubach, Patrick, Prada-Sarmiento, Luis Felipe, Schmüdderich, Christoph, Machaček, Jan, Wichtmann, Torsten, Albared, Alischa

2025

Overview

The determination of the factor of safety (FoS) of slopes during seismic excitation can be complex if the relevant effects of pore water pressure accumulation, nonlinear material response and variable shear strength are duly accounted for. A rational two-step approach to tackle this task based on a hydro-mechanically coupled dynamic simulation and finite element limit analyses is henceforth introduced. To ensure accurate transfer of the hydro-mechanical soil state, a mapping concept is presented, accounting for spatial distributions of stresses, excess pore water pressures, inertial forces and shear strength. The proposed approach is compared to limit equilibrium method (LEM) for the case of a large-scale water-saturated open cast mine slope subjected to seismic loading. In comparison with LEM, the new approach to assess seismic slope stability proves to be simpler in its implementation and straightforward, which could be an important asset for practitioners.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Complex Fluids and Microfluidics / Earthquake loads / Earthquakes / Engineering / Environmental engineering / Equilibrium methods / Finite element analysis / Foundations / Geoengineering / Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences / Hydraulics / Hydrostatic pressure / Inertia / Mathematical models / Nonlinear response / Pore pressure / Pore water / Pore water pressure / Pressure effects / Research Paper / Safety factors / Seismic response / Seismic stability / Shear strength / Slope stability / Soft and Granular Matter / Soil analysis / Soil mechanics / Soil Science & Conservation / Soil stresses / Solid Mechanics / Spatial distribution / Water / Water pressure