Investigation of Possible Landslide Precursor Activity in a Small-Scale Laboratory Experiment

Abstract

The aim of this article is to elucidate the identification and investigation of micro-crack evolution as a landslide precursor activity. For this purpose, the construction of a model test was considered appropriate by simulating a soil landslide in a small scale. There is a direct correlation between slope steepness and the occurrence of landslides. When inclination increases, a few seconds before failure, micro-cracks appear, initiating the slide. The whole procedure was recorded by an accelerometer, intending to record micro cracks imprint. The second step upon primary data acquisition was signal analysis in order to locate and examine micro-crack frequency range either a slide occurred and not. Finally, the signal analysis results indicated that there is a specific time period, a few seconds before failure, which, according to its frequency and energy content, can be defined as a landslide precursor activity. Comparing frequency content between precursor activity time period and no activity one greatly can identify the offset difference.