Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-10102-0

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Dynamic evolution mechanism of a rock slope with discontinuities

under earthquake motions using shaking table tests
Hanxu Zhou1 · Ailan Che1 · Renjie Zhu1

Received: 2 July 2021 / Accepted: 1 November 2021 / Published online: 23 November 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Under the impact of earthquake, even if the slopes do not fail, the integrity of rock slope structure would be damaged sub-
jected to the seismic motion. The process of damage, destruction and failure for slopes is characterized by the dynamic evolu-
tion of stability. In the areas with active tectonic activities, frequent earthquakes have a significant effect on the attenuation
of slope stability. To investigate the dynamic evolution of a rock slope under earthquake motions, a series of shaking table
tests were performed. An artificial synthetic earthquake seismic wave was adopted to investigate the horizontal acceleration
response. The results show that the wave field propagation results in acceleration amplification for the slope body above
the tuff structural surface are larger than those inside the slope, and a maximum value of 3.7 is observed at slope crest. The
structural surface results in a mutation of the acceleration response, which is not conducive to the slope stability. The mod-
eled slope entered the plastic stage (input motion of 2.97 m/s2) earlier than landslides occurred (input motion of 4.46 m/s2).
In addition, the safety factor of the sliding blocks was calculated based on pseudo static analysis. A good correspondence
was found between the safety factors and the failure mode of the slope. The damage evolution process for the rock slope
can be divided into three stages: an elastic stage (1.6 < safety factor ≤ 4.7), a plastic stage (0.8 < safety factor ≤ 1.6), and a
damage stage (safety factor ≤ 0.8).

Keywords Rock slope · Shaking table · Discontinuous joints · Wave field propagation characteristics · Dynamic evolution ·
Safety factor

Introduction earthquake (Huang and Li 2009). In the decade since the

Wenchuan earthquake, disturbances such as smaller earth-
Earthquakes are one of the primary causes of landslides. quakes have resulted in new damage development for geo-
The complicated influence of earthquakes on landslides logical disasters (Tang 2010). In June 2017, the Maoxian
is an important research topic (Rajabi et al. 2021; Chen landslide occurred, caused by the potential impact of the
et al2021). Landslides that occurred during the Wenchuan Wenchuan earthquake 9 years later (Shao et al. 2019). The
earthquake provide significant data for landslide research. dynamic evolution process of landslides urgently needs to
The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (­ Ms = 8.0, epicenter located be understood.
at 31.0°N, 103.4°E) was triggered by reactivation of Long- Layered rock slopes with weak intercalated layers are
menshan fault zone on May 12, 2008 (Yin et al. 2009). More common geologic structures, and their response under
than 56,000 earthquake-triggered landslide disasters were earthquake motion is of great significance to the surround-
discovered through aerial photographs and remote sensing ing infrastructure (Fan et al. 2016a, b). The existing research
images (Dai et al. 2011). Landslides can be considered the results can provide important guidelines for the study of
major secondary disasters associated with the Wenchuan the dynamic response characteristics of bedding slopes
and reverse bedding slopes (Yang et al. 2014). Chen et al.
(2016) investigated the effect of weak intercalation on slope
* Ailan Che stability with large-scale shaking table model tests, which
alche@sjtu.edu.cn were conducted to study the dynamic response of rock slope
1 models with weak intercalation. The experimental results
School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan‑Road, indicated that the stability of a slope with a counter-tilt weak
Shanghai 200240, China intercalation can be worse than that of other slopes with

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horizontal weak intercalation. Fan et al. (2016b) investigated (Chen et al. 2016). In shaking table tests, the response of the
the dynamic response of slopes parallel to geological bed- slope can be studied under different ground motion inputs
ding (bedding slopes) and slopes that cross-cut geological and waveforms with varying model sizes. As a result, the
bedding (counter-bedding slopes). The results indicated that dynamic response of the slope can be accurately obtained
the dynamic failure modes of bedding slopes and counter- (Lin 2006; Yang 2012; Yang et al. 2018). Therefore, shaking
bedding slopes are different. The former occurs mainly table tests have become one of the best methods for studying
through vertical tensile cracks at the rear of the slope, bed- rock slopes, and can reflect the dynamic response and failure
ding slide of the strata along the weak intercalation, and modes of slopes under earthquake motions (Chen 2016; Fan
rock collapse from the slope crest; the latter occurs mainly et al. 2016a, b; Sun et al. 2019).
through staggered horizontal and vertical fissures, extrusion To clarify the dynamic evolution and failure mechanism
of the weak intercalation, and breakage at the slope crest. of rock slopes with complex geological structures, shaking
He et al. (2021) studied the seismic response characteris- table tests are designed and carried out in this study based
tics and deformation evolution of bedding rock slope, and on the engineering background of the slope response of the
found that the bedding structural surface redistributes the Jinsha River Bridge. The tests imitate the slope, including
horizontal amplification effect and dominate the seismic its penetrating weak structural surface and steep structural
amplification at the crest. Many studies have focused on the surface on the trailing edge. The dynamic response char-
dynamic response characteristics and dynamic stability of acteristics of a rock slope with a bedding weak structural
rock slopes under earthquake loading (Lee et al. 2007; Xu surface and steep structural surface on the trailing edge is
et al. 2013; Liu et al. 2014; Xu and Yan 2014; Yang et al. investigated, and a series of large-scale shaking table tests
2014; Chen et al. 2016; Fan et al. 2016a, b; Sun et al. 2019). are performed. Moreover, based on an analysis of the slope
Given these results, a better understanding of the dynamic safety factor, the processes that produce dynamic damage of
evolution of rock slopes containing discontinuities under the slope are identified. The failure mode and mechanism for
earthquake excitation is needed. the slope are also discussed.
The understanding of rock slope dynamic evolution is the
design basis for landslide prevention and control. The failure
mechanism and dynamic response characteristics of a rock Shaking table test
slope are also the foundation for dynamic stability evaluation
of the slope under seismic loading (Dong et al. 2011; Yang To investigate the dynamic response and dynamic evolution
et al. 2012; Chang et al. 2021). A number of previous studies of a rock slope containing discontinuities under earthquake
have aimed to analyze the dynamic response of rock slopes motion, model tests are conducted in this study. The slope
under earthquake motions and have achieved some important model in the shaking table tests is scaled from the bank slope
results. The methods for analyzing slope dynamic responses of the Jinsha River Bridge.
under seismic excitation include analytical methods (Yang
2007; Yang 2009), numerical simulation methods (Shen and Case study
Karakus 2013; Luo et al. 2020), and physical simulation
methods (Li et al. 2009; Dong et al. 2011; Sahoo et al. 2015; The Jinsha River Bridge crosses the Jinsha River. As shown
He et al. 2021). Numerical methods have been developed in Fig. 1, it is an important bridge on the Huali highway con-
and applied because of their enhanced ability to simulate necting the cities of Lijiang and Huaping. The route crosses
actual failure mechanisms (Quecedo 2004; Babanouri 2017). the Jinsha River at a vertical angle from east to west (as
However, these methods are difficult to apply owing to the shown in Fig. 2). As the key project of the HuaLi highway,
lack of earthquake recordings resulting from the random the main pile cap of the bridge is located in the middle of
occurrence of earthquakes. Thus, numerical methods cannot the slopes near the Jinsha River. The bank slope, on which
accurately evaluate seismic response. Therefore, laboratory the main pile cap was built, has a stepped topography due
model experiments, i.e., shaking table tests, are required for to the dip structure and flow along the river. The Huaping
further study of the dynamic response of rock slopes (Pépin coast is along the bank slope, with a gradient of 20–30°.
et al. 2012). For complex slope structures, seismic modeling The exposed strata of the project area are Permian volcanic
is one of the most useful and powerful tools for studying rock, mainly composed of various shaped basalt, mixed with
the effects of the propagation of seismic waves generated layered breccia lava and tuff. The site of the slope has a
by ground motion (Che et al. 2016). With the development tuff structural surface and a step structural surface on the
of experimental technology, shaking table tests have been trailing edge (as shown in Fig. 3). Based on the “Code of
widely used to study the seismic response of various types of seismic design of buildings” (GB 50011-2016), the seismic
lithological combinations and structures, particularly slopes precautionary intensity of local area is VIII. Combined with
with discontinuous joints and slopes with weak intercalation the actual situation of the bridge, the main factors affecting

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Fig. 1  Location of Jinsha River Bridge

Fig. 2  Topography and geomor-

phology of Huaping bank slope

the stability of the slope are the topography, stratigraphic confirmed using the law of similitude. The similarity ratio
lithology, combination of the structural surfaces, and seismic for the geometric dimensions is 375, the similarity ratio for
loads. The Huaping bank slope can be considered as a typi- the acceleration is 1, and the similarity ratio for the density
cal rock slope with bedding structural surface. And the local is 1. The other physical quantities are calculated according
frequent seismic activities could cause a significant effect of to these similarity criteria, and are summarized in Table 1.
stability decrease. Therefore, the shaking table test which The results calculated with the similarity ratios indicate
simulates the dynamic response and evolution mechanism that a thickness of the tuff structure surface of 5 mm can
of typical rock slope could provide important reference for be used in the test model. To meet this requirement, model
rock slope risk management. materials are prepared by as a mixture of other materials,
i.e., cement, sand, clay, and iron powder. Based on the
Material properties ratio test, density test, materials test, and three static tri-
axial tests, the selected mass ratio of cement, sand, clay,
According to the geologic conditions of the Huaping iron powder, mixture (admixture and water reducing agent)
bank slope along the Jinsha River Bridge, the rock slope and water is 0.325:17:9:0.4:0.03:5. The physical parame-
is assumed to be in a state of plane strain. The material ters of similarity material are listed in Table 2. The density
characteristics of the models and test conditions should be parameter was obtained by cutting ring method, and the

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Fig. 3  Stratigraphic distribution

of the slope

Table 1  Similarity criteria calculation parameters containing modulus, cohesion and friction angle
Quantity Similarity criteria Similarity
were obtained by triaxial compression test. The tuff material
coefficient on the structural surface is modeled with a PVC expansion
sheet to obtain a similar cohesion of 21.1 kPa and internal
Geometric L CL = 375 375 friction angle of 23.2°.
Acceleration a Ca = 1 1
Density ρ Cρ = 1 1
Scale model
Young’s modulus E CE = ­CρCL 375
Poisson’s ratio μ 1 1
The model is 1.3 m in height and weighs more than 7 tons
Cohesion c Cc = ­CρCaCL 375
(as shown in Fig. 4). There are many challenges in con-
Internal friction angle φ 1 1
struction of a model of this size. If the model is poured as
a whole, the curing time will be excessively long. Because

Table 2  Physical–mechanical parameters of material parameters of the slope

Rock material Density Young’s modulus Cohesion Internal
γ/kN·m−3 E/MPa c/kPa friction
angle
φ/°

Physical parameters (rock material) Basalt 30 69,000–82,500 11,250–14,440 46.3–46.9

Tuff \ \ \ 29
Results of similarity criteria calculation Basalt 30 184–220 30–38.5 46.3–46.9
Tuff \ \ \ 29
Physical parameters (similarity material) Basalt 20.4 100 48.43 40.69
Tuff \ \ \ 23.2

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Fig. 4  Scaled model (mm)

different areas in the model have different curing times, it is curing times of all pieces are then precisely controlled. Typi-
difficult to control the strength of the simulation material. In cal pieces are shown in Fig. 5. To simulate the tuff structural
addition, it is difficult to place the sensor in the center of the surface, a PVC expansion sheet was inserted in the piece
model. Therefore, a special construction method is used to during the corresponding stage. A typical piece containing
address these problems. The model is split into 224 pieces, the tuff structural surface is shown in Fig. 5b. To simulate
and each piece is poured with a corresponding mold. Stag- the step structural surface in the trailing edge, sand was
gered seam assembling was adopted in the building process inserted in the piece during the corresponding stage. A typi-
of slope model to ensure the integrity of rock mass. The cal piece containing a step structural surface in the trailing

Fig. 5  Photo of the testing

pieces. a Normal pieces. b Tuff
structure surface. c Step struc-
ture surface on trailing edge

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edge is shown in Fig. 5c. After completion of the model, the were placed on the slope surface, while the other acceler-
PVC expansion sheet is connected to form the same shape as ometers were embedded at various depths in the slope. The
the tuff structural surface. Some cracks are used to simulate accelerometers used are able to collect acceleration data in
the step structural surface on the trailing edge, as shown in three directions simultaneously (as shown in Fig. 8). The
Fig. 5c. These cracks are cut with a 5-mm-thick iron sheet frequency range of the acceleration sensors is 0–1500 Hz in
and filled with sand. After the piece is poured, it is cured for the horizontal direction and 0–800 Hz in the vertical direc-
5d in a dry, cool environment. tion; the sensitivity is approximately 66 mV/m·s−2 with a
To clarify the dynamic response of the rock slope, a sim- range of ± 20 m/s2. An additional buffer layer with a thick-
plified model was established and simulated. The model ness of 10 cm was designed to minimize the effects of the
slope had a size of 280 × 140 cm and a height of 130 cm bottom boundary.
(shown in Fig. 3). The slope model was constructed with
prefabricated pieces, which were assembled in seven layers. Input motions
The angles of the structural plane and trailing edge of the
steep structural surface slope in the model material were 30 Within 100 km of the Huaping bank slope, there were 36 his-
and 75°, respectively. The slope model is shown in Fig. 6. torical earthquakes occurred with magnitude greater than 3.0
from 2011 to 2021, an average of 3.6 earthquakes per year.
Measurements The earthquake of highest magnitude was the 2019 Ms 4.9
Yongsheng earthquake, whose epicenter was 72.6 km away
The acceleration measurement setup is shown in Fig. 7. from the slope and PGA reached 0.30 m/s2. The waveform
First, 20 accelerometers were arranged in the slope; accel- used for shaking table test was synthesized based on local
erometers A8, A12, A15, A18, A22, A23, A24, and A25 historical earthquake data and geological characteristics.

Fig. 6  Photo of the scaled mod

Fig. 7  Measurement points

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Dynamic evolution under earthquake loads

The acceleration response of the slope is the core parameter

for evaluating the slope seismic dynamic response (Fan et al.
2016a; Dong et al. 2011). The peak ground acceleration
(PGA) is the maximum acceleration value of each measuring
point, and the acceleration amplification coefficient (­ MPGA)
is the ratio between the PGA and the peak acceleration of
the vibration table mesa. To determine the dynamic response
and dynamic evolution of the rock slope under earthquake
loads, the PGA, M ­ PGA, and safety factors were calculated
and analyzed.

Characteristics of the dynamic response

Figure 10 shows that the acceleration amplification effect

mainly occurs on the slope surface, and the maximum accel-
eration occurs at the top of slope. It can be concluded that
the seismic wave propagation is affected by the structural
surface in the bedrock body with discontinuous structural
Fig. 8  Install of the accelerometer
planes, such as weak inter layers, cracks, and faults. The
seismic wave field is superimposed on the structural sur-
The time history and response spectrum are shown in Fig. 9. face and the slope surface. As it is affected by the stepped
The dominant frequency of the artificial synthetic wave was slope, the acceleration amplification factor alternates with
4.5–5.5 Hz. The seismic waves were loaded horizontally the slope size.
in the tests. The working conditions of the tests are sum- The ­MPGA value reached 3.7 at the top of the slope when
marized in Table 3. the seismic wave was loaded in the horizontal direction. By
comparing the PGA distribution with different earthquake

Fig. 9  The input artificial

synthetic wave. aThe response
spectrum. b The time history. c
The Fourier spectrum

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Table 3  Cases of test

No Exciting direction Earthquake inten- amax(ms−2)
sity degree

1 Horizontal(x) 6 0.37
2 Horizontal(x) 7 0.74
3 Horizontal(x) 8 2.97
4 Horizontal(x) 9 4.46

motions, it can be observed that the amplification effect area

is upwards from the slope surface to the top of the slope.
Therefore, an amplified area of dynamic response occurs
at the top of the slope, which means that the materials were
unstable. Cracks and failure will first appear at the top of the
slope under seismic loading. The ­MPGA is smaller under the
structural surface than above the surface. Thus, the exist-
ence of the structural surface can be considered to cause a
mutation in the position of the acceleration response, which
is not conducive to the slope stability.
The ­MPGA distribution only reflects the distribution of the
acceleration response of the slope for each case. To make a
quantitative comparison between the dynamic responses of
different cases, the history line for the ­MPGA of the acceler-
ometers in different cases is plotted, as shown in Fig. 11. The
­MPGA gradually increases along the height and the surface of
the slope. With a gradual increase in the input seismic wave,
the acceleration response of the slope decreases. When the
intensity of the input wave reaches an intensity of VIII, the
acceleration amplification coefficient of the slope no longer
changes. Thus, the slope rock mass can be considered to
have entered the plastic deformation stage under an earth-
quake of intensity VIII.

Characteristics of dynamic evolution

Figure 12 shows the relationship between ­MPGA and earth-

quake intensity (amplitude of the input wave) in the horizon-
tal direction. To clarify the dynamic evolution and failure
process of the rock slope, the slope body above the tuff struc-
tural surface was selected as the research object. The ­MPGA
of the slope body were then analyzed. Figure 12 shows the
evolution process of the failure and an inflexion point can
be observed when input motion is 2.97 m/s2, which can be
considered to comprise three stages: Stage 1 is the elastic
stage (< 2.97 m/s2), Stage 2 is the plastic stage (2.97–4.46 m/ Fig. 10  MPGA distribution under artificial input motion
s2), and Stage 3 is the damage stage (> 4.46 m/s2). It can be
observed that the rate of decrease of ­MPGA gradually slows degree, numerous cracks appear in the slope surface. These
with increasing earthquake intensity. In Stage 1, the ­MPGA cracks then extend, deepen, and tend to connect. Finally, in
decreases rapidly because no deformation or damage occurs Stage 3, the M
­ PGA exhibits a sudden increase, which indi-
in the slope. When the ­MPGA has decreased to a certain cates the beginning of the occurrence of failure damage.

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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797 Page 9 of 14 797

Fig. 11  Acceleration response along slope

Fig. 12  Relationship between ­MPGA and earthquake intensity

Stability analysis calculated by considering the inertial force. In this method,

the safety factor for the occurrence of sliding on the land-
In the shaking table tests, the sliding surface and land- slide body is used to analyze the stability of the rock slope.
slide body of the model are clear. The safety factor can be The slide failure movement patterns mainly include sliding

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797 Page 10 of 14 Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797

along the surface and sliding along the two sides. In the tests,
∑n
i=1
FNi tan 𝜑i
the landslide body is subjected to gravity, inertial force, and K s = � ∑n �
(PGA tan 𝜑i + FWi sin 𝜑i
friction. The safety factor of the landslide body can be esti- i=1 max

mated when the geometry, failure mode, and sliding surface where FNi is the normal force between two sides of the
of the rock slope have been identified. The sliding body is structure surface, 𝜑i is the internal friction angle of the PVC
divided into several blocks for calculation of the safety factor material, PGA is obtained from one of the acceleration sen-
based on the amplification effect difference of slope body sors in the block, and FWi is the gravity of each block.
above structural surface, as shown in Fig. 11. The difference Calculation of the safety factor is based on three differ-
in the amplification effect represents the inequivalent force ent values obtained from the accelerometers. The safety
of slope body at different positions. The inertial force of factor ­(Ks) is calculated from the most dangerous moment.
each block can be obtained from one of the acceleration sen- The evolution of the safety factor is shown in Fig. 14. It
sors in the block. Based on the ­MPGA distribution, the land- can be seen that K ­ s decreases sharply when input motion
slide body is divided into three parts, as shown in Fig. 13. changes from 0.37 to 0.74 m/s2, while it decreases gradu-
The forces between blocks can be neglected. Considering ally from 0.74 to 2.97 m/s2, with Ks > 1.0. Additionally,
the similarity of tuff structural surface with soil material, the safety factor calculated for the three segments are quite
Mohr–Coulomb criterion was usually adopted to describe similar, which means that segmentation method does not
the shear strength of structural plane in physical model test significantly affect the calculation results. Moreover, K s
or numerical simulation (Sun et al. 2017). The anti-slip force for the three blocks are all less than 1.0 when the accelera-
can be obtained from the normal force and the friction angle tion reaches 4.46 m/s2, which means the surface slope is
of the PVC expansion sheet. Calculating the inertial force at unstable.
each moment, the maximum value obtained represents the Some marking spots were stuck on the slope surface,
most dangerous moment for each case. The safety factor is including reference spots on the model box. After each
calculated using the equation below: loading case, the horizontal relative displacement between
marking spots and reference spots was measured. And the
average displacement of each block was calculated, as shown
in Fig. 15. As the macroscopic result of seismic damage, the
displacement could reflect the evolution process of slope
stability. It can be observed that the displacement increases
when input motion reaches 2.97 m/s2. And it reaches the
maximum value when input motion is 4.46 m/s2 and Ks
are less than 1.0. The block B has the largest displacement,
which reaches 22.94 mm. The displacement records show
consistency with the evolution process of Ks, indicating that
safety factor is a good reflection of the failure mode of the
slope.

Fig. 13  Divide for calculating the safety factor

Fig. 14  Relationship between

Ks and earthquake intensity

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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797 Page 11 of 14 797

Fig. 15  Relationship between

displacement and earthquake
intensity

Based on these results, the evolution process of the land- collapse and landslides will occur. To describe the failure
slide can be divided into three stages. The first stage is an mode of the model, any cracks or deformation present are
elastic stage (Ks = 1.6–4.7). In this stage, the rock materi- recorded by photographs at the end of each test. The devel-
als of the slope are in an elastic state. The second stage is opment of cracks is shown in Figs. 16, 17. Before the input
a plastic stage (Ks = 0.8–1.6), which indicates a dangerous acceleration reaches 0.74 m/s2, a few cracks can be identified
moment for the slope. Low magnitude earthquakes or rain- near the slope surface. The failure modes of the slope model
fall can easily cause landslides in this stage. The last stage are mainly caused by the occurrence and deepening of these
is the damage stage (Ks < 0.8), in which landslides occur. cracks. When the input acceleration is between 2.97 and
4.46 m/s2, the cracks continue to deepen and extend gradu-
ally, and a few penetrating cracks occur with local spalling
Failure mechanism occurring near the slope surface. A large number of cracks
can be identified near the tuff structural surface, indicating
Failure process analysis a significant shear failure mode.

Based on the similar failure processes observed in various Failure mode analysis
models, the failure process of a rock slope can be character-
ized by three notable features (Huang et al. 2013). First, a Failure occurred in the model when the horizontal input
crack near the top surface is observed. Second, with increas- acceleration reached 4.46 m/s2, and a photo of the model
ing input acceleration, the cracks extend and tend to connect, after failure is shown in Fig. 18. The cracks and deforma-
as shown in Fig. 16. Finally, the top area of the slope will tion in the model observed during the process of removal

Fig. 16  Development of cracks. a 2.97 m/s−2. b 4.46 m/s−2

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797 Page 12 of 14 Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797

Conclusion

(a) A series of shaking table tests were designed and

performed to study the stability of a rock slope with
discontinuities. Special construction technology was
employed to achieve an accurate simulation. The shak-
ing table tests successfully showed the failure process
for landslides under earthquake motions. The deforma-
tion and damage mainly developed within a zone of
shallow depth in the upper part of the slope. The height
and slope structure have a significant impact on the
­MPGA of the slope. The ­MPGA increases with increas-
ing height, and reaches a maximum at the top of the
slope. The ­MPGA of the slope surface is greater than
that inside the slope. Thus, it can be considered that the
existence of the structural surface causes a mutation in
the position of the acceleration response, which is not
conducive to slope stability.
(b) Under the impact of earthquakes, the evolution process
of damage deformation of the slope can be divided into
three stages: Stage 1 (elastic stage), Stage 2 (plastic
stage), and Stage 3 (damage stage). These stages are
related to the appearance of numerous cracks in the
slope surface. These cracks then extend, deepen, and
tend to connect. The sliding mode thus occurs as below:
Fig. 17  Description of failure process
before the earthquake intensity reaches 0.74 m/s2, a few
cracks can be identified near the slope surface; when
are the main basis for judging the sliding surface, as shown the earthquake intensity is between 2.97 and 4.46 m/
in Fig. 19. Figure 19 shows that the shear outlet position is s2, the cracks continue to deepen and extend gradually,
located on the slope surface 60 cm above the bottom of the and a few penetrating cracks occur with local spalling
slope. There are dense transverse and longitudinal cracks occurring near the slope surface; failure occurs when
along the slip surface, and distinct downward dislocations the horizontal earthquake intensity reaches 4.46 m/s2.
have formed at the top of the slope. The location of the slip (c) Slope safety factors were calculated based on pseudo
surface and the tuff structural surface are very similar. It can static analysis and used to describe the failure process.
be concluded that the tuff structural surface plays a control- A good correspondence could be observed between
ling role in the position of landslides and cutting.

Fig. 18  Photograph of model

after shaking

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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:797 Page 13 of 14 797

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Acknowledgements This work is supported by the National Key https://​doi.​org/​10.​1007/​s11629-​013-​2790-6
R&D Program of China (2018YFC1504504). The authors would like Luo YH, Fan XM, Huang RQ, Wang YS, Yunus AP, Havenith HB
to express their gratitude to the Key Laboratory of Loess Earthquake (2020) Topographic and near-surface stratigraphic amplification
Engineering, CEA Gansu Province for their helpful advice. of the seismic response of a mountain slope revealed by field
monitoring and numerical simulations. Eng Geol 271:105607.
https://​doi.​org/​10.​1016/j.​enggeo.​2020.​105607
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