ABSTRACT
Rainfall is a significant factor that triggers slope failures around world. This paper proposes a method for the prediction of landslide initiation by using elastic wave velocity in soil. Two cases of slope model tests were conducted. First case of test investigated the behavior of elastic wave velocities during wetting and failure process of soil slope with slope angle of 45 degree. It was found that a gradual decrease in wave velocities was followed by a rapid decrease once the failure was initiated. While the second case was conducted with slope angle of 0 degree and rainfall was given at early period and then soil model was inclined without rainfall in order to separately unravel the change in elastic wave velocity with increase of water content and deformation. The wave velocity was found to decrease slightly with increasing water content but largely with deformation. Based on these observations, ideas for the prediction of landslides using elastic wave propagation in soil are presented.
