MATERIAL-POINT-METHOD ANALYSIS OF COLLAPSING SLOPES

ABSTRACT: To understand the dynamic evolution of landslides and predict their physical ex-tent, a computational model is required that is capable of analysing complex material behaviour as well as large strains and deformations. Here, a model is presented based on the so-called generalised-interpolation material-point method, combining a Eulerian grid for solving the gov-erning equations of a continuum with a Lagrangian description for the material. The method is extended to analyse interaction between multiple bodies, introducing a master–slave algorithm for frictional contact along interfaces. Further, a deformed material description is introduced, based on time integration of the deformation gradient and utilising Gauss quadrature over the volume associated with each material point. The method has been implemented in a Fortran code and employed for the analysis of a landslide that took place during the night of Decem-ber 1st, 2008, near Lønstrup, Denmark. Using a simple Mohr-Coulomb model for the soil, the computational model is able to reproduce the change in the slope geometry at the site.