Microseismic Monitoring and Numerical Simulation of Rock Slope Failure

A numerical code with an elastic-brittle failure model has been developed to simulate the seismic activities in rock failure problems. The feasibility in principle of monitoring and prediction of rock failure was numerically simulated. The heterogeneity was considered to be the main reason for the existence of slope failure precursors. Seismic events could be observed in heterogeneous rock, whereas the homogeneous rocks showed an abrupt fracture mode without any early seismic precursors. The failure process of a slope was numerically investigated by using a gravity increase method (centrifugal loading method), and the application of the microseismic monitoring system in the slope was introduced. The numerical results showed that the fracture of the main faults caused the slope slide, and the microcracking caused by the heterogeneity in the faults prior to the landslide could be considered as the precursors of the slope failure, which were captured by the microseismic monitoring system. The microseismic monitoring technique was proved to be successful in predicting the failure in the slope, and the numerical results will be helpful in interpreting the microseismic monitoring results.