Why permafrost rocks become unstable: a rock–ice‐mechanical model in time and space

In this paper, we develop a mechanical model that relates the destabilization of thawing permafrost rock slopes to temperature‐related effects on both, rock‐ and ice‐mechanics; and laboratory testing of key assumptions is performed. Degrading permafrost is considered to be an important factor for rock–slope failures in alpine and arctic environments, but the mechanics are poorly understood. The destabilization is commonly attributed to changes in ice‐mechanical properties while bedrock friction and fracture propagation have not been considered yet. However, fracture toughness, compressive and tensile strength decrease by up to 50% and more when intact water‐saturated rock thaws. Based on literature and experiments, we develop a modified Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion for ice‐filled rock fractures that incorporates fracturing of rock bridges, friction of rough fracture surfaces, ductile creep of ice and detachment mechanisms along rock–ice interfaces. Novel laboratory setups were developed to assess the temperature dependency of the friction of ice‐free rock–rock interfaces and the shear detachment of rock–ice interfaces. In degrading permafrost, rock‐mechanical properties may control early stages of destabilization and become more important for higher normal stress, i.e. higher magnitudes of rock–slope failure. Ice‐mechanical properties outbalance the importance of rock‐mechanical components after the deformation accelerates and are more relevant for smaller magnitudes. The model explains why all magnitudes of rock–slope failures can be prepared and triggered by permafrost degradation and is capable of conditioning long para‐glacial response times. Here, we present a synoptic rock‐ and ice‐mechanical model that explains the mechanical destabilization processes operating in warming permafrost rocks. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factors Controlling Seismic Susceptibility of the Sele Valley Slopes: The Case of the 1980 Irpinia Earthquake Re-Examined

Most of the documented slope failures triggered by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake (M_s 6.9) occurred in the upper Sele valley epicentral area (southern Italy). The early investigations revealed some puzzling characteristics of the slope failure distribution, i.e., (i) the higher landslide concentration on the valley slopes located farther away from the earthquake fault; (ii) the predominance of re-activations over first-time movements. The analyses of factors controlling the landslide concentrations indicates that the differences in hydrological setting and in slope were the two main causal factors whereas the seismic shaking, according to the radiation pattern modelling, could have been characterised by a relatively low rate of decrease across the valley. The aspect of the slopes did not play a significant role. The differences in groundwater conditions between the western and eastern valley sides were probably enhanced by the earthquake. In addition to the probable pore-water pressure rise, the seismic shaking caused large increases in the flow of springs draining the western aquifer, and this made the adjacent flysch slopes more prone to landsliding. Data from the available literature suggest that the effects of earthquake-induced groundwater release on seismic landslide distribution is especially important for normal-fault events. The Sele valley case also indicates that the slope of the pre-existing landslides is an important factor controlling their susceptibility to seismic re-activations.     

Large ice‐contact slope movements: glacial buttressing,deformation and erosion

Glaciers and slope movements may act simultaneously to erode and modify glaciated slopes. Undercutting by glaciers can destabilize slopes but the extent to which slope failure may progress prior to subsequent glacier withdrawal has not hitherto been considered. The traditional view has been that the buttressing effect of ice prevents slope movement. The problem with this view is that ice is one‐third the density of rock and flows under low applied stress. Consequently, failed slopes may move into the glacier if they exert a stress in excess of the resistance provided by the glacier. Slope movement rate depends on ice rheology and other factors influencing driving and resisting stresses. Simple viscous equations are used to investigate these variables. The equations predict that small (<125 000 m³) ice‐contact rockslides can deform ice at several mm/year, increasing to several m/year for very large (>10⁸ m³) rockslides. To test these estimates, field evidence is presented of slope movements in glaciated valleys of New Zealand; narrowing or squeezing of glaciers adjacent to unstable rock slopes is demonstrated and considered to be the result of slope movement. For one site, geomorphic mapping and slope movement monitoring data show that movement rates are of similar order of magnitude to those predicted by the viscous equations; closer agreement could be achieved with the application of modelling techniques that can more realistically model the complex slope geometries and stability factors encountered, or by obtaining additional empirical data to calibrate the models. This research implies that, while the concept of glacial debuttressing – the reduction of slope support from withdrawal of glaciers – is valid, complete debuttressing is not a prerequisite for the movement of ice‐contact rock slopes. These slope movements may contribute to the erosional processes of glaciers and the evolution of glaciated slopes in a previously unrecognized way. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coastal failures during the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake in Turkey

During the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake (M_w=7.4) in Turkey, coastal failures and sea inundation were observed and were particularly concentrated along the margins of Izmit Bay and Lake Sapanca, in pull-apart basins created by stepovers in the fault rupture. Geotechnical site characterization, geologic mapping, liquefaction evaluation, and slope stability analysis were carried out to identify the principal contributing factors of the coastal failures. Results from this study indicate that both liquefaction and tectonic subsidence contributed to the failures and sea inundation within the pull-apart basins. Most of the liquefaction sites were situated at the prograding nose of active delta fans, where the presence of steep slopes coupled with the loose sediments found within young active delta fan deposits resulted in liquefaction-induced slope failures and sea inundation. Liquefaction in other coastal deposits outside the actively prograding delta fans caused limited lateral spreading and only minor sea inundation. Outside the delta fans, where soils were not liquefiable, tectonic subsidence associated with normal faulting was the cause of the observed sea inundation. Generally, tectonic subsidence caused the most severe sea inundation. Based on these observations, the identification of regions susceptible to both tectonic subsidence and liquefaction are important when evaluating seismic hazards.     

Glaciers,rock avalanches and the ‘buzzsaw’ in cirque development: Why mountain cirques are of mainly glacial origin

It has been proposed that most cirques are source-area depressions of large, deep-seated rock-slope failures. Yet the close relation between cirques and climate is convincing evidence of the dominance of glacial erosion, rather than rock-slope failure, in mountain cirque development and distribution. Cirque floor altitudes have a lower limit that varies with snowfall by 1000 m or more between windward and leeward sides of mountain systems. Glaciation levels and equilibrium line altitudes implied by cirques vary in parallel with those for modern glaciers. Cirques are often found mainly on the poleward or leeward slopes of individual mountain ranges, as are modern small glaciers (because of solar radiation and wind effects on ablation and accumulation). Most rock-slope failures (RSFs: rock slides, rock avalanches and gravitational deformations) do not involve the deep-seated rotational movement that would produce a cirque form. Although some deep-seated RSFs with arcuate head scars may be confused with cirques, identification as a glacial cirque is more confident as the floor is longer, wider and more gently sloping. Some scars from major RSFs may resemble poor or moderately developed cirques, but tend to have steeper floors, to be more scattered and closely related to geology, whereas glacial cirques develop on all rock types. Deep-seated RSFs high on slopes can be associated with seismic shaking, but cirques develop without relation to seismicity. Degree of cirque development can be related to duration of exposure to glaciation. Often RSFs are found adjacent to cirques, or in glacial transfluences; only a proportion are well situated to develop into glacial cirques. Valley-head cirques are continued down-valley by glacial troughs. The ‘overdeepening’ (rock basins with reversed slopes) found in a large minority of cirques is not due to rock avalanching, fluvial or periglacial erosion. The RSF proposal should therefore be rejected in favour of the traditional glacial explanation, without any nivation stage being necessary. Rock-slope failure is one of several possible ways of initiating hollows for glacier accumulation, as well as an ancillary process of cirque extension or widening through collapse of glacially oversteepened slopes. Headward extension of adjacent cirques on a ridge leads to displacement of the divide, sometimes by 2 km or more, lowering ridge and summit altitudes and producing the ‘glacial buzzsaw’ effect. Where a relatively lower snowline has led to cirque erosion on all sides of a mountain, cirque intersection lowers summits further. The buzzsaw hypothesis is not applicable, however, where remnants of a preglacial summit surface survive. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ground motion selection for seismic slope displacement analysis using a generalized intensity measure distribution method

Selecting ground motions based on the generalized intensity measure distribution (GIMD) approach has many appealing features, but it has not been fully verified in engineering practice. In this paper, several suites of ground motions, which have almost identical distributions of spectral acceleration (SA) ordinates but different distributions of non‐SA intensity measures, are selected using the GIMD‐based approach for a given earthquake scenario. The selected ground motion suites are used to compute the sliding displacements of various slopes. Comparisons of the resulting displacements demonstrate that selecting ground motions with biased distribution of some intensity measures (ie, Arias intensity) may yield systematic biases (up to 60% for some slope types). Therefore, compared to the ground motions selected based only on the distribution of SA ordinates, the ground motion suite selected by the GIMD‐based approach can better represent the various characteristics of earthquake loadings, resulting in generally unbiased estimation in specific engineering applications.     

地震作用下分层土边坡多滑面变形破坏的数值模拟研究

地震引起的滑坡对生命、环境和经济造成了巨大的威胁。目前,对于地震作用下边坡稳定性的研究主要集中在单一滑动面破坏模式,对于具有多个潜在滑动面边坡的地震稳定性研究比较欠缺。基于此,利用有限差分软件FLAC对不同边坡进行地震稳定性数值模拟,对比分析不同强度地震动作用下均质土体、分层土体和含软弱夹层土体边坡的滑动面演化过程和永久变形分布特征。结果表明：对于均质边坡,地震引起的滑动面为单一的整体滑动面,地震动强度的增加仅导致沿滑动面的永久变形量增大;对于非均质边坡,在地震作用下还可能形成通过土层交界面的局部滑动变形,且地震作用下最先形成和发生变形的滑动面与静力条件下得到的最小安全系数对应的最危险滑动面一致;同时,地震引起的边坡浅层和深层变形破坏存在复杂的相互影响,当局部浅层滑动先发生时,地震动的进一步增大很容易诱发更深层的坡体滑动,而当深层滑动先发生时,由于塑性变形影响地震惯性力向上部坡体的传播,浅层坡体的进一步滑动变形相对较难被触发。     

地形效应影响下地震动参数与斜坡稳定性的相关性研究

地形对地震动的影响比较复杂, 考虑地形放大效应的地震滑坡稳定性分析需要选择合适的地震动参数. 本文使用自贡地形影响台阵记录到的2008年汶川M_S8.0地震主震加速度记录, 分析了地震动峰值加速度、 阿里亚斯烈度以及90%能量持时随地形高度的变化, 探讨了地形效应作用下峰值加速度和阿里亚斯烈度与地震动作用下斜坡稳定性的相关性. 结果表明: ① 地形场地对峰值加速度和阿里亚斯烈度均有显著的放大效应. 地形放大效应较为复杂, 其整体上随台站高度的增加而增大, 水平向的放大效应大于竖直向. 水平向峰值加速度的放大系数为1.1—1.8, 阿里亚斯烈度的放大系数为1.2—3.3; 竖直向相应放大系数分别为1.1—1.3和1.2—1.7. ② 地形对地震动持时也有一定的放大效应, 但不同高度、 不同分量的放大效应没有显著差异, 其放大系数均约为1.3. ③ 阿里亚斯烈度和峰值加速度均能很好地表征地形对地震动的影响, 与地震动对斜坡稳定性的影响具有很强的相关性. 与峰值加速度相比, 阿里亚斯烈度综合了地震动的多方面特征, 可以更好地表征地形对地震动的影响, 与地震动作用下斜坡稳定性的相关性更强.      

2001年昆仑山口西8.1级地震区的冻土及地震破坏特征

通过对2001年昆仑山口西8．1级地震区冻土震害考察研究表明，震区主要存在冰碛、冲积、洪积和湖积等成因的冻土，沿地震破裂带冻土厚度变化较大。震区冻土变形破坏主要包括地震构造成因的地震破裂带和由地震振动引起的裂缝、液化、震陷和崩塌等。冻土中地震破裂带在地表主要以脆性变形为主，在地震断裂左旋走滑运动作用下，主要由剪切裂缝、张裂缝和开裂的挤压鼓包等组成。裂缝、液化、震陷和崩塌等变形破坏的展布特征及其组合形式与震区岩土与环境条件密切相关；本次地震震害具有地震破裂带规模大、有建筑物分布的青藏公路一线地震烈度衰减较快和震害分布受岩土条件影响大等特点。     

复杂退台高位转换高层建筑振动台试验与分析

对一幢具有转换层的复杂退台式框架剪力墙高层建筑的1/35缩尺模型进行了模拟地震振动台试验,深入研究该结构的动力特性和地震反应特征.试验及理论分析表明:该结构的抗震性能基本满足现行规范要求;由于结构上部逐渐退台,因而结构顶部有较明显的鞭端效应;结构首层和结构转换层及其相邻层的剪力墙、转换层上下层柱是受力较大的区域,应当局...     

Damage index based on stiffness degradation of low‐rise RC walls

Widely used damage indices, such as ductility and drift ratios, do not account for the influences of the duration of strong shaking, the cumulative inelastic deformation or energy dissipation in structures. In addition, the formulation and application of most damage indices have until now been based primarily on flexural modes of failure. However, evidence from earthquakes suggests that shear failure or combined shear‐flexure behavior is responsible for a large proportion of failures. Empirical considerations have been made in this paper for evaluating structural damage of low‐rise RC walls under earthquake ground motions by means of a new energy‐based low‐cycle fatigue damage index. The proposed empirical damage index is based on the results of an experimental program that comprised six shake table tests of RC solid walls and walls with openings; results of six companion walls tested under QS‐cyclic loading were used for comparison purposes. Variables studied were the wall geometry, type of concrete, web shear steel ratio, type of web shear reinforcement, and testing method. The index correlates the stiffness degradation and the destructiveness of the earthquake in terms of the duration and intensity of the ground motions. The stiffness degradation model considers simultaneously the increment of damage associated to the low‐cycle fatigue, energy dissipation, and the cumulative cyclic parameters, such as displacement demand and hysteretic energy dissipated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

自复位高墩振动台模型试验

为探讨自复位桥墩的地震反应,以某简支梁桥为工程背景,设计并制作了一个缩尺的模型桥梁。通过白噪声扫频获得了自复位桥墩的动力特性及其变化规律,选取El-Centro、Mexico和Chi-Chi强震记录作为地震动输入,进行振动台模型试验。试验记录了墩顶的加速度和位移反应,考查了地震动强度、频谱特性及预应力钢筋及其初始预加力对模型桥墩动力特性及摇摆反应的影响。试验结果表明:墩顶水平加速度反应随地震动强度及初始预加力的提高而增大,墩顶位移反应受地震动的强度、频谱特性及初始预加力大小影响较大。墩底提离面轻微损伤会明显降低体系的整体水平刚度,初始预加力则能提高体系整体水平刚度,桥墩的阻尼比随体系的水平刚度增大而减小。强震下自复位桥墩发生了预期的提离摇摆,震后墩底提离面出现轻微损伤,墩身无裂缝产生,结构具有良好的抗震及自复位性能。振动台试验结果验证已有文献的数值分析结论,振动台试验数据可用于数值模型校核或修正。     

基于非确定性分析法的顺层边坡抗震性研究

顺层岩质边坡的抗震性指标大部分都是非确定的,无法用固定阈值衡量。提出基于非确定性分析法的顺层边坡抗震性性能研究,将顺层岩质边坡看作若干个叠加的薄板;运用非确定性分析法计算各个薄板的动力安全系数和动力极限状态方程,并对顺层边坡动力极限状态方程进行求解,可得在地震作用力下顺层边坡动力可靠度指标与顺层边坡失效概率之间的关系;评估地震作用力下顺层边坡整体稳定性,同时综合考量顺岩边坡的最小平均安全系数以及平均失效概率,得出评估结果。实验结果显示,在地震作用力下,顺层边坡坡高、坡角、岩层倾角对顺岩边坡抗震性能影响显著,评估结果与实际结果一致。     

Geotechnical evaluation of slope and ground failures during the 8 October 2005 Muzaffarabad earthquake, Pakistan

A large devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck in Kashmir on Oct. 8, 2005. The largest city influenced by the earthquake was Muzaffarabad. Balakot town was the nearest settlement to the epicenter, and it was the most heavily damaged. The earthquake caused extensive damage to housing and structures founded on loose deposits or weathered/sheared rock masses. Furthermore, extensive slope failures occurred along Neelum and Jhelum valleys, which obstructed both river flow and roadways. In this article, failures of natural and cut slopes as well as other ground failures induced by the earthquake and their geotechnical evaluation are presented, and their implications on civil infrastructures and site selection for reconstruction and rehabilitation are discussed. It is suggested that if housing and constructions on soil slopes containing boulders as observed in Balakot and Muzaffarabad are allowed, there should be a safety zone between the slope crest and allowable construction boundary.     

Seismic stability of jointed rock slopes under obliquely incident earthquake waves

Seismic stability of slopes has been traditionally analyzed with vertically propagated earthquake waves. However, for rock slopes, the earthquake waves might approach the outcrop still with a evidently oblique direction. To investigate the impact of obliquely incident earthquake excitations, the input method for SV and P waves with arbitrary incident angles is conducted, respectively, by adopting the equivalent nodal force method together with a viscous-spring boundary. Then, the input method is introduced within the framework of ABAQUS software and verified by a numerical example. Both SV and P waves input are considered herein for a 2D jointed rock slope. For the jointed rock mass, the jointed material model in ABAQUS software is employed to simulate its behavior as a continuum. Results of the study show that the earthquake incident angles have significance on the seismic stability of jointed rock slopes. The larger the incident angle, the greater the risk of slope instability. Furthermore, the stability of the jointed rock slopes also is affected by wave types of earthquakes heavily. P waves induce weaker responses and SV waves are shown to be more critical.     

Fully probabilistic seismic displacement analysis of spatially distributed slopes using spatially correlated vector intensity measures

Earthquake‐induced slope displacement is an important parameter for safety evaluation and earthquake design of slope systems. Traditional probabilistic seismic hazard analysis usually focuses on evaluating slope displacement at a particular location, and it is not suitable for spatially distributed slopes over a large region. This study proposes a computationally efficient framework for fully probabilistic seismic displacement analysis of spatially distributed slope systems using spatially correlated vector intensity measures (IMs). First, a spatial cross‐correlation model for three key ground motion IMs, that is, peak ground acceleration (PGA), Arias intensity, and peak ground velocity, is developed using 2686 ground motion recordings from 11 recent earthquakes. To reduce the computational cost, Monte Carlo simulation and data reduction techniques are utilized to generate spatially correlated random fields for the vector IMs. The slope displacement hazards over the region are further quantified using empirical predictive equations. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to highlight the importance of the spatial correlation and the advantage of using spatially correlated vector IMs in seismic hazard analysis of spatially distributed slopes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response mechanism of post-earthquake slopes under heavy rainfall

This paper uses the catastrophic landslide that occurred in Zhongxing Town, Dujiangyan City, as an example to study the formation mechanism of landslides induced by heavy rainfall in the post-Wenchuan earthquake area. The deformation characteristics of a slope under seismic loading were investigated via a shaking table test. The results show that a large number of cracks formed in the slope due to the tensile and shear forces of the vibrations, and most of the cracks had angles of approximately 45° with respect to the horizontal. A series of flume tests were performed to show how the duration and intensity of rainfall influence the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes. Wetting fronts were recorded under different rainfall intensities, and the depth of rainfall infiltration was greater in the shaken slope than in the non-shaken slope because the former experienced a greater extreme rainfall intensity under the same early rainfall and rainfall duration conditions. At the beginning of the rainfall infiltration experiment, the pore water pressure in the slope was negative, and settling occurred at the top of the slope. With increasing rainfall, the pore water pressure changed from negative to positive, and cracks were observed on the back surface of the slope and the shear outlet of the landslide on the front of the slope. The shaken slope was more susceptible to crack formation than the non-shaken slope under the same rainfall conditions. A comparison of the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes under heavy rainfall revealed that cracks formed by earthquakes provided channels for infiltration. Soil particles in the cracks of slopes were washed away, and the pore water pressure increased rapidly, especially the transient pore water pressure in the slope caused by short-term concentrated rainfall which decreased rock strength and slope stability.     

强震作用下层状岩质斜坡破坏的大型振动台试验研究

以“5.12”汶川地震背景为基础,对不同岩性组合水平层状岩质边坡进行了大型振动台模型试验研究.文中介绍了振动台试验过程,通过对试验现象的观察处理分析,考察了边坡的破坏现象特征、变形破坏模式.实验结果表明,地震力作用下边坡的变形破坏程度、特征以及稳定性不仅与地震波的类型、加载方向、频率、振幅有关,同时还受边坡的岩体性质、...     

一种适用于黄土斜坡地震稳定性快速评估的综合判别方法——以宁夏西吉县为例

选取宁夏西吉县为目标区,对区内1920年海原8.5级特大地震所诱发的347处黄土地震滑坡进行野外调查,获取了详实的基础数据.在此基础上结合遥感影像解译,总结了研究区内黄土地震滑坡的分布特征,并依此提出了宏观、定性的黄土斜坡地震稳定性快速判别方法.基于分布特征选取了坡高、坡角、坡向及地震动强度作为基本参数,应用MLP神经...     

Evaluation of the measured seismic response of the Mexico City Cathedral

The seismic response of the Mexico City Cathedral built of very soft soil deposits is evaluated by using motions recorded in various parts of the structure during several moderate earthquakes. This unique set of records provides significant insight into the seismic response of this and other similar historic stone masonry structures. Free‐field ground motions are carefully compared in time and frequency domains with motions recorded at building basement. The dynamic characteristics of the structure are inferred from the earthquake records by using system identification techniques. Variation of seismic response for different seismic intensities is discussed. It is shown that, due to the soil–structure interaction, due to large differences between dominant frequencies of earthquake ground motions at the site and modal frequencies of vibration of the structure, and due to a particularly high viscous damping, seismic amplifications of ground motion in this and similar historic buildings erected on soft soil deposits are much smaller than that induced in most modern constructions. Nevertheless, earthquake records and analytical results show that several components of the structure such as its central dome and the bell towers may be subjected to local vibrations that significantly amplify ground motions. Overall, results indicate that in its present state the structure has an acceptable level of seismic safety. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.