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Mechanical parameters of rock mass in mining engineering feature the characteristics of spatial variability and time decay, and it plays an important role in the slope stability analysis. The mechanical behaviour of rock engineering in low in-situ stress condition is highly affected by the rock mass quality. In this paper, the distribution of geological strength index (GSI) was obtained by geostatistics-based methods to determine the spatial variability of mechanical parameters. Moreover, mechanical parameters of rock masses in open-pit mine are deteriorating continuously in the mining process. A damage model using microseism (MS) data was proposed to describe the time decay of mechanical parameters. Additionally, the dynamic programming method was used to search the rough critical slip surface and factor of safety considering the heterogeneous mechanical parameters. An example was further employed to demonstrate these proposed methods in the Dagushan open-pit mine. The results indicated that incorporation of spatial variability and time decay into mechanical parameters leaded to a fundamental change in the slope stability. Our study helps to provide detailed mechanical parameters, which contribute to a more reasonable explanation as well as provide governance measures for the rock landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Except for simple sliding motions, the stability of a slope does not depend only on the resistance of the basal failure surface. It is affected by the internal distortion of the moving mass, which plays an important role on the stability and post-failure behaviour of a landslide. The paper examines the stability conditions and the post-failure behaviour of a compound landslide whose geometry is inspired by one of the representative cross-sections of Vajont landslide. The brittleness of the mobilized rock mass was described by a strain-softening Mohr-Coulomb model, whose parameters were derived from previous contributions. The analysis was performed by means of a MPM computer code, which is capable of modelling the whole instability procedure in a unified calculation. The gravity action has been applied to initialize the stress state. This step mobilizes part of the strength along a shearing band located just above the kink of the basal surface, leading to the formation a kinematically admissible mechanism. The overall instability is triggered by an increase of water level. The increase of pore water pressures reduces the effective stresses within the slope and it leads to a progressive failure mechanism developing along an internal shearing band which controls the stability of the compound slope. The effect of the basal shearing resistance has been analysed during the post-failure stage. If no shearing strength is considered (as predicted by a thermal pressurization analysis), the model predicts a response similar to actual observations, namely a maximum sliding velocity of 25 m/s and a run-out close to 500 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first application of ground-based interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (GBInSAR) for slope monitoring dates back 13 years. Today, GBInSAR is used internationally as a leading-edge tool for near-real-time monitoring of surface slope movements in landslides and open pit mines. The success of the technology relies mainly on its ability to measure slope movements rapidly with sub-millimetric accuracy over wide areas and in almost any weather conditions. In recent years, GBInSAR has experienced significant improvements, due to the development of more advanced radar techniques in terms of both data processing and sensor performance. These improvements have led to widespread diffusion of the technology for early warning monitoring of slopes in both civil and mining applications. The main technical features of modern SAR technology for slope monitoring are discussed in this paper. A comparative analysis with other monitoring technologies is also presented along with some recent examples of successful slope monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Hilbert-Huang Transform and its marginal spectrum, an energy-based method is proposed to analyse the dynamics of earthquake-induced landslides and a case study is presented to illustrate the proposed method. The results show that the seismic Hilbert energy in the sliding mass of a landslide is larger than that in the sliding bed when subjected to seismic excitations, causing different dynamic responses between the sliding mass and the sliding bed. The seismic Hilbert energy transits from the high-frequency components to the low-frequency components when the seismic waves propagate through the weak zone, causing a nonuniform seismic Hilbert energy distribution in the frequency domain. Shear failure develops first at the crest and toe of the sliding mass due to resonance effects. Meanwhile, the seismic Hilbert energy in the frequency components of 3-5 Hz, which is close to the natural frequency of the slope, is largely dissipated in the initiation and failure processes of the landslide. With the development of dynamic failure, the peak energy transmission ratios in the weak zone decrease gradually. This study offers an energy-based interpretation for the initiation and progression of earthquake-induced landslides with the shattering-sliding failure type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale and impact of rock slope failures are very large and the form of failure differs depending upon the geological structures of slopes. The 2008 Iwate-Miyagi intraplate earthquake induced many large-scale slope failures, despite the magnitude of the earthquake being of intermediate scale. Among large-scale slope failures, the landslide at the left bank of the Aratozawa Dam site is of great interest to specialists of rock mechanics and rock engineering. Although the slope failure was of planar type, the direction of sliding was luckily towards the sub-valley, so that the landslide did not cause great tsunami-like motion of reservoir fluid. In this study, the author attempts to describe the characteristics of the landslide, strong motion and permanent ground displacement induced by the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi intraplate earthquake, which had great effects on the triggering and evolution of the landslide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stability analysis of Surabhi landslide in the Dehradun and Tehri districts of Uttaranchal located in Mussoorie, India, has been simulated numerically using the distinct element method focusing on the weak zones (fracture). This is an active landslide on the main road toward the town centre, which was triggered after rainfall in July-August 1998. Understanding the behaviour of this landslide will be helpful for planning and implementing mitigation measures. The first stage of the study includes the total area of the landslide. The area identified as the zone of detachment is considered the most vulnerable part of the landslide. Ingress of water and increased pore pressures result in reduced mobilized effective frictional resistance, causing the top layer of the zone of detachment to start moving. The corresponding total volume of rock mass that is potentially unstable is estimated to 11.58 million m. The second stage of this study includes a 2D model focussing only on the zone of detachment. The result of the analyses including both static and dynamic loading indicates that most of the total displacement observed in the slide model is due to the zone of detachment. The discontinuum modelling in the present study gives reasonable agreement with actual observations and has improved understanding of the stability of the slide slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]