Numerical Modeling of Failure Process of Soil Slopes

Abstract

A finite-element analysis program was developed to analyze the progressive failure of a soil slope based on the progressive failure mechanism. The shear element was developed to comprehensively characterize the shear zone, which describes the soil shear deformation localization of progressive failure. The formulation of the shear element was derived using a format similar to that of the soil-structure interface element and incorporated into the traditional FEM to macroscopically simulate the deformation and failure processes of the slope. A series of algorithms, including the combination and transformation of the shear element and the entity element, were proposed to obtain the full solutions for the progressive failure of soil slopes. The simulation results using the developed program for the slip surface, failure process, and displacement distribution match the observations of centrifuge model tests well.