A finite element analysis of the Brindisi di Montagna Scalo Earthflow (Basilicata, Southern-Italy)

Abstract

In this paper a general Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis is presented for the investigation of landslide mechanics behavior, including a non-linear constitutive model of soils. Landslide body is modeled using FEM with 3D volume elements, with large strains assumptions, and the soil mass properties are adopted according to the non-linear Drucker- Prager material formulation. The remaining soil region is assumed as boundary constrains. A special attention is devoted to the geometrical definition of the volume of the landslide body and of the boundary surfaces, particularly the landslide sliding surface, and to the applied loads. To this aim a specific pre-processor code is employed which is able to generate the mesh and the input file for the FEM code. The performances of the approach have been checked by using the test case of Brindisi di Montagna Scalo landslide. In this first approach the results show that the methodology is powerful and can be used efficiently for the numerical analysis of complex landslide configuration. .