ABSTRACT
In this chapter, automated inverse analysis procedures are used to calibrate the Material Point Method models of two well-instrumented laboratory experiments on reduced-scale slopes, respectively dealing with large slope deformation and long run-out soil propagation. The first laboratory test refers to a retrogressive slope instability combined with soil liquefaction. The second test reproduces a soil mass rapidly propagating along an inclined plane and depositing over a flat area. The initial condition of the MPM modelling is the piezometric line observed at the first failure of the slope during the experiment. The model calibration is performed through the minimisation of an objective function, which is a measure of the error between the experimental data and the model predictions. The fit between the observed and the simulated values is quantified by defining an error of the numerical simulation that is the objective function to minimise by inverse analysis.
