Abstract
Toe rock bridge is a key block for controlling failure mode and overall stability of a rockslide. In this paper, 3D Fast Lagrangian Analysis Code (FLAC3D) is used to simulate the progressive failure process of a simple translational rockslide and a compound rockslide (an engineering case), both of which are assumed to have a toe rock bridge. A range of strain, stress, and plastic zone in the sliding block or on the failure surface were analyzed in the progressive failure process. Based on the concept of the Prandtl failure, this paper proposed a limit equilibrium method considering the Prandtl wedge damage (LEM-PW) for the rockslide with toe rock bridge. Moreover, the influence of the size and position of the Prandtl wedge on the overall stability of the rockslide was discussed. The results show that the combination of the 3D finite difference numerical simulation and the limit equilibrium method can interpret the displacement accumulation at the rear of the rockslide, the stress concentration characteristics of the toe rock bridge, and the variation trend of the landslide stability after the Prandtl wedge damage.
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Data availability
The research data on landslides used in the paper are derived mainly from Zhou et al. (2022), as well as the site survey conducted by the team of the authors.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the editors and reviewers for their kind and constructive suggestions.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 41672295), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No.: 2019YFC1509904), and the China Geological Survey (Grant No.: DD20230450).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yuntao Zhou and **aoyan Zhao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yuntao Zhou, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Zhou, Y., Zhao, X. Progressive failure mechanism and stability for a rockslide with a toe rock bridge. Landslides 21, 1691–1706 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02251-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02251-7