Failure Mechanism and Movement Process Inversion of Rainfall-Induced Landslide in Yuexi Country

Yonghong Xiao, Lu Wei and Xianghong Liu ()
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Yonghong Xiao: Geo-Environment Monitoring of Anhui Institute, Hefei 230001, China
Lu Wei: Geo-Environment Monitoring of Anhui Institute, Hefei 230001, China
Xianghong Liu: School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: Shallow landslides are one of the main geological hazards that occur during heavy rainfall in Yuexi County every year, posing potential risks to the personal and property safety of local residents. A rainfall-induced shallow landslide named Baishizu No. 15 landslide in Yuexi Country was taken as a case study. Based on the field geological investigation, combined with physical and mechanical experiments in laboratory as well as numerical simulation, the failure mechanism induced by rainfall infiltration was studied, and the movement process after landslide failure was inverted. The results show that the pore-water pressure within 2 m of the landslide body increases significantly and the factory of safety ( F s ) has a good corresponding relationship with rainfall, which decreased to 0.978 after the heavy rainstorm on July 5 and July 6 in 2020. The maximum shear strain and displacement are concentrated at the foot and front edge of the landslide, which indicates a “traction type” failure mode of the Baishizu No. 15 landslide. In addition, the maximum displacement during landslide instability is about 0.5 m. The residual strength of soils collected from the soil–rock interface shows significant rate-strengthening, which ensures that the Baishizu No. 15 landslide will not exhibit high-speed and long runout movement. The rate-dependent friction coefficient of sliding surface was considered to simulate the movement process of the Baishizu No. 15 landslide by using PFC 2D . The simulation results show that the movement velocity exhibited obvious oscillatory characteristics. After the movement stopped, the landslide formed a slip cliff at the rear edge and deposited as far as the platform at the front of the slope foot but did not block the road ahead. The final deposition state is basically consistent with the on-site investigation. The research results of this paper can provide valuable references for the disaster prevention, mitigation, and risk assessment of shallow landslides on residual soil slopes in the Dabie mountainous region.

Keywords: shallow landslide; failure mechanism; rainfall infiltration; rate strengthening; landslide movement; Yuexi Country (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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