ABSTRACT
A proper numerical analysis of geotechnical problems dealing with soil excavation is a useful tool for design and interpretation of civil engineering projects. There are typically three methods to evaluate the stability conditions for strutted excavations – limit equilibrium methods (LEM), limit analysis methods (LAM) and finite element methods (FEM). The simulations are performed in two phases: stress initialisation with quasi-static gravity loading and the excavation process by consecutively removing soil volumes. The site characterisation included boreholes, inclinometers, and topographic measurements. A one-phase analysis Material Point Method mixed calculation is carried out to simulate the observed failure of the Cortes landslide due to the excavation of part of the bank toe. The MPM analysis was consistent with field observation: the landslide displaced downward response to the excavation but it reached a new stable configuration at the expense of severe straining of the sliding surface and the rock cover.
