Centrifuge Modeling of Slopes Subjected to Groundwater Flow and Rainfall Infiltration

Abstract

AbstractDue to the severe harm that they cause to society and the economy, landslides have become an infamous topic. Certainly, rainfall is one of the most important external factors that lower soil suction and shear strength, which in turn leads to shallow landslides. Indeed, landslide early warning mechanisms mostly rely on predicted or actual rainfall. However, the absence of a more thorough hydrological process involving groundwater flow means that temporal predictability still poses a challenge. Therefore, understanding the complex hydromechanical process using physical modeling techniques is of utmost importance. This paper aims to confirm the performance of the newly developed centrifuge soil container that facilitates the simultaneous functioning of groundwater flow and rainfall infiltration. Upon the validation of the functioning of the centrifuge chamber, landslide characteristics of unsaturated slopes were examined under the integrated effect of groundwater flow and rainfall. The results show that distinctive characteristics compared to slopes fail under rainfall infiltration.