Failure process and stability analysis of landslides in Southwest China while considering rainfall and supporting conditions

Abstract

Landslides frequently occur in several mountainous areas because of their unique engineering–geological conditions and other external factors (earthquakes, rainfall, etc.). In this paper, the landslide in Southwest China is used as the research objective to examine the landslide’s stability under different working conditions. The influencing factors and the formation mechanism of the landslide are analyzed based on the geological environment and essential characteristics of the landslide. In addition, the transfer coefficient method and the GeoStudio software were used to assess the landslide stability. The analysis results demonstrate that the joint action of landforms, geological structures, rainfall, and other factors caused the landslide. Furthermore, the slipped tension fracture induced the failure mode. The transfer coefficient method results showed that the landslide was stable under natural conditions and unstable under rainstorm conditions, which is consistent with the numerical simulation result. The shear strength sensitivity analysis results depicted an apparent linear relationship among cohesion c, internal friction angle φ, and stability coefficient. Moreover, the stability of the unstable slope is more sensitive to φ than to c.