In collaboration with colleagues from Ruhr University Bochum, Aarhus University, and Bauhaus University Weimar, we have developed an innovative two-step approach to assess the stability of slopes under seismic loading. The approach combines dynamic finite element analysis (DFEA) with finite element limit analysis (FELA) to determine the factor of safety (FoS) during earthquakes.

Authors: Christoph Schmüdderich (RUB), Charlotte Herz (RUB), Alischa Albared (RUB), Jan Machaček (TUDa), Luis Felipe Prada-Sarmiento (Aarhus University), Patrick Staubach (BUW), and Torsten Wichtmann (RUB).

Key Highlights:

• Hydro-mechanically coupled simulations: Capturing excess pore water pressures and their effects on shear strength and slope stability.
• Information transfer: A mapping concept transfers variations in space and time of stresses, inertial forces, and shear strengths between the FEM and FELA analyses.
• Application to practical scenarios: The approach was applied to a water-saturated open-cast mine slope subjected to seismic loading.

Further details about this research project can be found in the full publication.