Design and validation of boundary conditions for rapid soil mass movement in large-scale slope experiments
- 1National Disaster Management Research Institute
Abstract
Reproducible rapid soil mass movements in controlled large-scale slope experiments enable the evaluation of structural vulnerability and potential human impacts in mountainous residential areas exposed to landslides. Achieving reproducible rapid sliding in a large-scale experiment is considerably more challenging than realizing it in small-scale experiments because seepage localization and deformation responses vary with scale. This study identified and experimentally validated hydraulic and geometric boundary conditions that enabled consistent rapid basal sliding in a large-scale slope simulator. The berm layout, slope angle, and inclined sand layer installation were refined through repeated large-scale experiments. Finite element seepage analysis identified that a water level of 0.4 m promoted basal infiltration while limiting premature near-surface instability. Under the validated boundary configuration, rapid basal sliding along the simulator base was reproduced in three consecutive experiments, with the sliding velocities ranging from 4.30 to 4.60 m/s. The consistent failure mode and comparable sliding velocities achieved across repeated experiments confirmed the reproducibility of conditions supporting rapid soil mass movements at a large scale. These findings establish experimentally validated boundary conditions for reproducible large-scale rapid sliding and provide a basis for evaluating structural vulnerability and developing mitigation strategies in landslide-prone environments.
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BibTeX
@article{lee2026design,
title = {{Design and validation of boundary conditions for rapid soil mass movement in large-scale slope experiments}},
author = {Young-Hak Lee and Gun-ha Na and Hyo-Sung Song and Seung-Jae Lee and Jae-Jeong Kim},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63232-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63232-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Design and validation of boundary conditions for rapid soil mass movement in large-scale slope experiments
AU - Young-Hak Lee
AU - Gun-ha Na
AU - Hyo-Sung Song
AU - Seung-Jae Lee
AU - Jae-Jeong Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63232-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63232-5
AB - Reproducible rapid soil mass movements in controlled large-scale slope experiments enable the evaluation of structural vulnerability and potential human impacts in mountainous residential areas exposed to landslides. Achieving reproducible rapid sliding in a large-scale experiment is considerably more challenging than realizing it in small-scale experiments because seepage localization and deformation responses vary with scale. This study identified and experimentally validated hydraulic and geometric boundary conditions that enabled consistent rapid basal sliding in a large-scale slope simulator. The berm layout, slope angle, and inclined sand layer installation were refined through repeated large-scale experiments. Finite element seepage analysis identified that a water level of 0.4 m promoted basal infiltration while limiting premature near-surface instability. Under the validated boundary configuration, rapid basal sliding along the simulator base was reproduced in three consecutive experiments, with the sliding velocities ranging from 4.30 to 4.60 m/s. The consistent failure mode and comparable sliding velocities achieved across repeated experiments confirmed the reproducibility of conditions supporting rapid soil mass movements at a large scale. These findings establish experimentally validated boundary conditions for reproducible large-scale rapid sliding and provide a basis for evaluating structural vulnerability and developing mitigation strategies in landslide-prone environments.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -