A finite element approach for the analysis of active slow-moving landslides

In the present paper, a finite element approach is proposed to analyse the mobility of active landslides which are controlled by groundwater fluctuations within the slope. These landslides are usually characterised by low displacement rates with deformations that are essentially concentrated within a narrow shear zone above which the unstable soil mass moves with deformations of no great concern. The proposed approach utilises an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model in conjunction with a Mohr-Coulomb yield function to describe the behaviour of the soil in the shear zone. For the other soils involved by the landslide, an elastic model is used for the sake of simplicity. A significant advantage of the present method lies in the fact that few constitutive parameters are required as input data, the most of which can be readily obtained by conventional geotechnical tests. The rest of the required parameters should be calibrated on the basis of the available monitoring data concerning the change in the piezometric levels and the associated movements of the unstable soil mass. After being calibrated and validated, the proposed approach can be used to predict future landslide movements owing to expected groundwater fluctuations or to assess the effectiveness of drainage systems which are designed to control the landslide mobility. The method is applied to back-predict the observed field behaviour of three active slow-moving landslides documented in the literature.