Modelling of Shaking-Induced Slope Displacements During Strong Earthquakes

A nonlinear wave propagation model, which is based on the theory of Hypoplasticity developed at the Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics at the KIT (former TU Karlsruhe) under the guidance of Prof. Gudehus, is applied for the simulation of the dynamic response of slopes during strong earthquakes. The model captures the main features of mechanical behavior of coarse and fine-grained soils under seismic-induced alternating shearing and is an alternative to the Newmark method, which simply assumes ideal-plastic Coulomb-friction sliding, for the estimation of earthquake-induced displacements of buildings and slopes during earthquakes. After a short introduction and validation, the capabilities of the model to predict the magnitude of permanent displacements as a function of the slope inclination, the intensity of the seismic excitation and the drainage conditions of the slope are shown exemplarily.