Numerical Simulation of Soil Levee Slope Instability Using Particle-Flow Code Method

Abstract

A mesoscale simulation approach and its corresponding safety criteria are presented to investigate the soil levee instability and its safety criteria. By introducing the particle-flow code (PFC), the numerical simulation tests of levee materials and structures were conducted. Then, the influence of mesoscale particle parameters on macroscale mechanical properties of levee soil was analyzed, and a quantitative relation model of the mesoscale and macroscale material parameters was built. The safety factor, slope instability criterion, and implementation procedure, which the particle-flow code method used to analyze and evaluate the levee slope instability, are given. Finally, the particle-flow model of an actual levee was built to simulate and analyze the progressive process from local material damages to the overall slope instability, thereby to investigate the mesoscale mechanism of levee instability.