Trigger mechanism of loess-mudstone landslides inferred from ring shear tests and numerical simulation

Whereas loess-mudstone landslides are widely distributed and frequently occurred at the loess Plateau, this type of landslides is hard to detect due to its particularity, and easily generates serious losses. To clarify the shear characteristics and formation mechanism of loess-mudstone landslides, field investigations, ring shear tests and numerical simulation analyses were performed on the loess specimens collected from the Dingjiagou landslide in Yan’an city, China. The test results showed that both the peak strength and residual strength of slip zone soils have a decreasing tendency with moisture content, while the increasing of normal stress caused an increase in the shear strength. These phenomena indicate that the rise in the moisture content induced by precipitation or the decreasing of normal stress due to excavation activities would result in the weakening of slip zone soils. Numerical simulations of the evolution process of slope failure using the finite element method were conducted based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. It was found that the heavy precipitation played a more important role in the slope instability compared with the excavation. In addition, the field investigation showed that loess soils with well-developed cracks and underlying mudstone soils provide material base for the formation of loess-mudstone landslides. Finally, the formation mechanism of this type of landslides was divided into three stages, namely, the local deformation stage, the penetration stage, the creeping — sliding stage. This study may provide a basis for understanding the sliding process of loess-mudstone landslides, as well as guidelines for the prevention and mitigation of loess-mudstone landslides.