Instability analysis of rainfall-induced landslides using hydro-mechanically coupled model

In this study, the instability of rainfall-induced shallow landslides on Mt. Umyeonsan was examined by a coupled hydro-mechanical finite element (FE) model. Field and laboratory investigations were performed to explore mechanisms of shallow landslides and to determine the model parameters. The coupled hydro-mechanical FE model is shown to be capable of simulating the progressive failure of a slope within the soil layer. The slope failures occurred on the surficial layer-bedrock interface, which shows good agreement with the actual failure zone. Through comparisons with field investigations, the presented method reasonably identified the potential zone of landslide initiation as compared with a limit equilibrium method. Therefore, the coupled simulation allows both the hydraulic and mechanical behavior of slope to be considered and realistically modelled.