2019 Ardaman-Wissa Lecture

Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/22/2019
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Location
Reitz Union Conference Room G320

Categories


Ardaman & Associate, Inc.
2019 Ardaman-Wissa Lecture
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Tuesday, October 22nd Reitz Union Conference Room G320 on UF campus Dinner will be provided at 4:30 pm
Dynamics of Landslides
Eduardo E. Alonso
Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, UPC, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: The lecture describes the rapid motion developed by landslides under certain circumstances. The explanation for high velocities go beyond the possibilities offered by accepted constitutive models for shearing strength. A likely mechanism explaining field observations is the heat-induced pore water pressurization of shear bands. The motion depends also on sliding kinematics and the internal deformation of the moving mass. The solution offered by simple sliding geometries (planar, two-wedge deep-seated landslides) is generalized to arbitrary geometries by means of a Material Point Method approach. In order to eliminate the inconsistent effect of mesh-related thickness of shear bands, a “double continuum” procedure was developed. This is achieved by embedding localization bands into the soil or rock matrix. Energy and mass balance equations required a new formulation. The well-known case of the gigantic Vaiont landslide provided a good case record to validate the modelling approach. The calculated landslide motion reproduces nicely the case history.

Eduardo Alonso is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the Civil Engineering School of UPC since 1986. He is a past Dean of the School and a past Vice-Rector for research at UPC. His main research interests include the stochastic analysis of soil heterogeneity, unsaturated soil mechanics, rockfill mechanics, dam engineering, coupled thermo- hydro-mechanical analysis and some chemo-mechanical interactions. He has maintained a special interest in landslide phenomena, a subject that involves the disciplines of engineering geology, rock mechanics and soil mechanics. Recently he has contributed to the development of a

computational technique, the Material Point Method, capable of addressing the static and dynamic aspects of landslide instability. He is known for his contributions to develop unsaturated soil mechanics and his involvement in a variety of Geotechnical Engineering cases, particularly those involving nuclear waste storage, landslides and catastrophic failures. He has acted as a geotechnical consultant in several countries. He has published more than 400 papers in learned journals and International Conferences and Symposia. He is member of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain and he is the immediate past Editor of ICE journal Géotechnique. Past honorary lectures include Coulomb, Buchanan, Sowers, Croce, Heim, Kezdi, Rocha, BGA Touring lectures, Rankine and Leonards.