Geo-Congress 2013 © ASCE 2013 448

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/20/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Experimental Simulation of Rainfall and Seismic Effects to Trigger Slope

Failures

Binod Tiwari1, Ph.D., M. ASCE, Adam Lewis2 and Eric Ferrar3, SM. ASCE
1
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State
University, Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd. E-419, Fullerton, CA 92834; PH (657) 278-3968;
FAX (657) 278-3916; email: btiwari@fullerton.edu
2
Graduate Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State University,
Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92834; email: alewis@csu.fullerton.edu
2
Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State
University, Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92834; email:
eferrer@csu.fullerton.edu

ABSTRACT: Two slopes – one at 300 and 400 were prepared with loose sand in a
Plexiglas model container of 1.2 m x1.2 m x 1.2 m size. The slope was poured with a
rainfall of 0.5 mm/min for 3 hours. Variation in degree of saturation, suction and
apparent cohesion with depth were measured. The numerical calculation showed a
yield seismic coefficient of 0.21. However, the slope failed catastrophically at a
seismic acceleration of 0.5g. The tensiometer data showed a drop in suction after
seismic shaking, which can be a main cause of the catastrophic failure.

BACKGROUND

Numerous long-run out landslides were observed during the recent Mw 9.0
Tohoku Earthquake (Pradel et al., 2011). Several large scale landslides were observed
when strong typhoons (Typhoon Ma-on and Roki) hit the earthquake affected area
four and six months, respectively after the devastating earthquake. This caused a
property loss of over $50M and killed more than 9 people. This shows that after a
slope has been loosened by an earthquake, a significant degradation in stability can
occur when the slope is exposed to heavy precipitation. Therefore, it is essential to
evaluate the effect of seismic shaking on the slope when the slope is loosened by
earthquake or when a partially saturated soil slope loses its strength during seismic
shaking.

SOIL TESTING METHODOLOGY

Dry sand was compacted loosely in a Plexiglas Model (dimension 1.2 m x 1.2 m
x 1.2 m) at the void ratio of 0.7 in two different slopes of 300 and 400 (Fig. 1).

Geo-Congress 2013
 Geo-Congress 2013 © ASCE 2013 449

Tensiometers were set in this slope at different depths to measure the suction during
rainfall. Both slopes were poured with a rainfall of 0.5 mm/min for 3 hours and the
rate of percolation of the rainwater with time was marked on the Plexiglas. At the
same time, the suctions measured with tensiometers installed at different locations in
the soil mass were recorded with time. After 3 hours of rainfall, the entire assembly
was shaken with different frequencies and durations of sinusoidal waves having
different magnitudes. A dry slope and a slope with 4% moisture content, made of the
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/20/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

same soil at the same void ratio and inclination were also shaken with the same
seismic events. The test results were compiled to see the effect of ground shaking on
the partially saturated soil.

Fig. 1: Experimental Modeling Slopes (left: dry and right: with rainfall)

SOIL TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Presented in Fig. 2 is the movement of rainwater front with duration of rainfall.

Soil samples were collected from different locations after 3 hours to measure the
degree of saturations at various depths. The contour of degree of saturation is
presented in Fig. 3. Shear strength of soil at the corresponding degree of saturation
were measured with the direct shear device. Fig. 4 shows that the apparent cohesion
drops as the degree of saturation increases. The friction angle was more or less
constant at 300 for all of degrees of saturations tested, while the dry sample exhibited
the friction angle of 340. Stability analysis was performed assuming the soil has
different shear strength at different layers based the soil layers presented in Fig. 3
with the corresponding shear strengths presented in Fig. 4. The analysis results show
that a seismic coefficient of 0.21 is sufficient to cause a catastrophic failure.
However, the slope failed catastrophically at a seismic coefficient of 0.5, as presented
in Fig. 5. The tensiometer record showed that there is a considerable drop in suction
with the number of shaking cycle. This shows that the dynamic shaking can cause a
drastic reduction in apparent cohesion, which may cause a catastrophic failure of the
slope.
The sliding mechanism was verified in a Finite Element Analysis using Strength
Reduction Method using Phase2 Version 8 of the RocScience (RocScience Inc.,
2012). The deformation obtained with the numerical simulation matched well with

Geo-Congress 2013
 Geo-Congress 2013 © ASCE 2013 450

the soil test measured displacements, obtained with the triaxial accelerometers placed
at different depths.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/20/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 2: Movement of Rainwater Front with Duration of Rainfall, ranging from

45 to 180 min.

Fig. 3: Variation of Degree of Saturation of Soil at Different Depths after 3

Hours of Rainfall

CONCLUSION

The experimental modeling conducted on two slopes having same void ratio, same
type of soil, and same intensity and duration of rainfall, but different angles of
inclination showed that the degree of saturation in soil changes with depth of soil and
the amount of rainfall. This variation in degree of saturation causes a variation in

Geo-Congress 2013
 Geo-Congress 2013 © ASCE 2013 451

apparent cohesion in the soil mass. The apparent cohesion drops significantly during
seismic event, which causes the catastrophic failure of the slope.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/20/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 4: Variation of Apparent Cohesion with the Degree of Saturation

Fig. 5: Slope after Catastrophic Failure

REFERENCES

Pradel, D., Tiwari, B., and Wartman, J. 2011. Landslides Triggerred by 2011 Pacific
Earthquake, Geostrata, September/October 2011, 28-32.
RocScience Inc, 2012: “Application of the Finite Element Method to Slope Stability.”

Geo-Congress 2013