1. Finite Element simulation of a slow moving natural slope in the Upper-Austrian Alps using a visco-hypoplastic constitutive model
- Author
-
Geeralt van den Ham, Thomas Meier, Joachim Rohn, and Kurt Czurda
- Subjects
Void ratio ,Creep ,Soil test ,Constitutive equation ,medicine ,Stiffness ,Geotechnical engineering ,Inclinometer ,Boundary value problem ,medicine.symptom ,Geology ,Finite element method ,Earth-Surface Processes - Abstract
A large-size creeping natural slope was simulated with the Finite Element (FE) method, using a visco-hypoplastic material model, which describes the mechanical behaviour of cohesive soils, allowing for viscous effects (i.e. creep, relaxation and rate-dependence of stiffness). First, the required material parameters were determined by means of standard geotechnical laboratory tests using representative soil samples taken from the slope. Then a FE mesh of a slope section was constructed and boundary conditions were established. The slope movements were simulated and compared with inclinometer measurements, which were available for a period of 16 years. The calculation results are in good agreement with the observed velocities. A parameter study was carried out in order to assess the influence of slope angle, initial void ratio, material parameters as well as their spatial distribution.
- Published
- 2009