Generic Predictive Model of Earthquake-Induced Slope Displacements Derived from Finite-Element Analysis
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 4
Abstract
A generic predictive model of earthquake-induced slope displacement subjected to shallow crustal earthquake events is developed using displacements computed from finite-element (FE) analysis. The maximum displacement on the slope surface at the end of shaking was computed by nonlinear FE simulations for 49 slope models each subjected to 1051 earthquake motions. A unified predictive model of seismic displacement is developed that characterizes the slope in terms of its yield acceleration (), the depth of the slip surface relative to the height of the slope (), and the natural period of the full slope height (). Across five intensity measures and 10 combinations of intensity measures, peak ground velocity (PGV) is found to be the most efficient parameter for the displacement prediction, leading to significantly smaller aleatory variability. The displacement variability is partitioned into two components: between-slope variability, which represents the variability associated with different slope models, and within-slope variability, which represents the variability due to different input ground motions. The developed generic predictive model can be applied to the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of slope movements and used for deterministic earthquake scenarios in the design/analysis process.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies. These data are available at Cho and Rathje (2021).
Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by Grant CMMI-1520817 from the National Science Foundation, a gift from Pacific Gas and Electric, and the Janet S. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas. This support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank Dr. Jongwon Lee and anonymous reviewers who provided their valuable insights and meticulous comments that enhanced the quality of the manuscript.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 4 • April 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 23, 2020
Accepted: Nov 23, 2021
Published online: Feb 14, 2022
Published in print: Apr 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 14, 2022
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