Large deformation behavior of soil in landslides and soil-structure interaction

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Large soil deformation occurs in many geotechnical problems. For example, in large-scale landslides in sensitive clay in eastern Canada and Scandinavia or submarine landslides, the failure of soil blocks might continue over several hundred meters behind the crest of the slope. Similarly, the debris might travel hundreds of meters and kilometers in some cases in offshore environments. These landslides could affect the population and damage infrastructures (e.g. pipelines and piles) located both in upslope and downslope directions. Empirical and statistical approaches are typically used to predict the extent of landslides and runout. The proposed research program will develop advanced numerical techniques for modelling large deformation in landslides and debris flow in Eulerian-based finite element and computational fluid dynamics frameworks. Pipeline-soil interactions will be investigated, incorporating large soil deformation during operation, and including cases when the landslide and runout impact a pipeline. The effects of pile installation and load-carrying capacity will be investigated for varying conditions, including piles in sensitive clay and in sloping ground. Five Master's and five Doctoral candidates' research will be supported by this grant at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, who will receive training in advanced laboratory testing, numerical analysis and physical modelling of challenging geotechnical problems in onshore and offshore environments. The outcomes will be useful for landslide hazard assessment and the development of improved design guidelines for pipelines and piles.