Slip monitoring of a dip-slope and runout simulation by the discrete element method: a case study at the Huafan University campus in northern Taiwan

Chia-Han Tseng (), Yu-Chang Chan, Ching-Jiang Jeng and Yu-Chung Hsieh
Additional contact information
Chia-Han Tseng: Academia Sinica
Yu-Chang Chan: Academia Sinica
Ching-Jiang Jeng: Huafan University
Yu-Chung Hsieh: Ministry of Economic Affairs

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2017, vol. 89, issue 3, No 11, 1205-1225

Abstract: Abstract Slope failure is a widely observed phenomenon in the mountainous areas in Taiwan due to rainy climatic and fragile geological conditions. Landslides easily occur after intense rainfall, especially from typhoons, and, accordingly, cause a great loss of human life and property. At the northern end of the Western Foothill belt in northern Taiwan, Huafan University is founded on a dip-slope about 20° toward the southwest composed of early Miocene alternations of sandstone and shale. Data from continuous monitoring using inclinometers and groundwater gauges reveal that 6–10 mm/month of slope creeping occurs, and a potential sliding surface is then detected about 10–40 m beneath the slope surface. To understand the potential runout process of the dip-slope failure at the campus, particle flow code 3D models based on a discrete element method are applied in this study. Results of the simulation reveal a critical value of the friction coefficient to be 0.13 and that more than 90% of the campus buildings will slide down in 100 s when the friction coefficient is reduced to half the critical value. The weakening of the shear zone due to the rise of groundwater during rainstorms is assumed to be the main factor. Some suggestions for preventing landslide disasters are to construct catchpits to drain runoff and lower the groundwater table and to install a sufficient number of ground anchors and retaining walls to stabilize the slope.

Keywords: Dip-slope; Inclinometer; Numerical modeling; Particle flow code 3D; Taiwan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-017-3016-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:89:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-017-3016-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-017-3016-y

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().