ABSTRACT
Large-scale landslides in sensitive clays are common in eastern Canada. Failure occurs quite rapidly, essentially in undrained conditions. Based on initiation and progression of the sliding surfaces or shear bands, the failure of slopes can be divided into two categories, namely upward and downward progressive failures. Upward progressive failure might be initiated by excavation, erosion or small slides in the riverbank slopes. Field observations show that the progressive failure propagating on the upslope direction is initiated by the formation of a quasi-horizontal shear band from the toe of the slope. Several studies in the literature have shown the initiation of the quasi-horizontal shear band in 2D models. In this study, the initiation of the quasi-horizontal shear band is compared in 2D and 3D models. It is shown that 3D models can capture the initiation as well, and the results of 2D and 3D models are in good agreement.
