The use of MPM to estimate the behaviour of rigid structures during landslides
J. León Gonzalez Acosta (TU Delft - Geo-engineering)
Philip Vardon (TU Delft - Geo-engineering)
M.A. Hicks (TU Delft - Geoscience and Engineering)
I.A. Pantev (TU Delft - Geo-engineering)
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Abstract
In geotechnical engineering, proper design of retaining structures is of great importance, since failure of these structures can lead to catastrophic consequences. Nowadays, the finite element method is seen as a reliable numerical technique to analyze soil behaviour and is widely used to assess the interaction be-tween soil and rigid structures. However, a disadvantage of this method is the difficulty of simulating contact between separate bodies. Because of this, the event of a slope failing and colliding with a rigid body cannot be analyzed, so that the additional forces acting against the rigid body caused by the motion of the ground are neglected. With the recent development of the material point method (MPM), this limitation has been over-come and problems involving large deformation and multiple bodies in contact can be analyzed. In this paper, the effect of a landslide colliding with a rigid wall has been studied, and multiple initial conditions have been considered in order to identify the critical case.