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Influence of the spatial variability of shear strength parameters on rainfall induced landslides: a case study of sandstone slope in Japan

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Abstract

Rainfall-induced landslides frequently occur in humid temperate regions worldwide. Research activity in understanding the mechanism of rainfall-induced landslides has recently focused on the probability of slope failure involving non-homogeneous soil profiles. This paper presents probabilistic analyses to assess the stability of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall. The influence of the spatial variability of shear strength parameters on the probability of rainfall-induced slope failure is conducted by means of a series of seepage and stability analyses of an infinite slope based on random fields. A case study of shallow failure located on sandstone slopes in Japan is used to verify the analysis framework. The results confirm that a probabilistic analysis can be efficiently used to qualify various locations of failure surface caused by spatial variability of soil shear strength for a shallow infinite slope failure due to rainfall.

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Acknowledgements

The first author would like to acknowledge the AUN/Seed-Net (JICA) for a Ph.D. sandwich scholarship during his study. The authors would like to thank William L. Dam, Hydrogeologist, who assisted with editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Thanh Son Nguyen

  2. Geotechnical Research Unit, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Suched Likitlersuang

  3. Department of Urban Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Hiroyasu Ohtsu & Takafumi Kitaoka

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  1. Thanh Son Nguyen
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  2. Suched Likitlersuang
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  3. Hiroyasu Ohtsu
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  4. Takafumi Kitaoka
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Correspondence to Suched Likitlersuang.

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This research was supported by the Thailand Research Fund Grant No. RSA-5880023 and the Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endowment Fund.

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Nguyen, T.S., Likitlersuang, S., Ohtsu, H. et al. Influence of the spatial variability of shear strength parameters on rainfall induced landslides: a case study of sandstone slope in Japan. Arab J Geosci 10, 369 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3158-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3158-y

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