A FEM-DEM framework for progressive modeling of landslides

In practical engineering, characteristics of landslides, such as slope stability and influence area, should be carefully studied to facilitate mitigation constructions in regions at risk of landslide hazards. Most mitigation projects in design adopted numerical analyses, specifically in conventional landslide studies; however, if only a single numerical method is used, limitations of only capturing certain characteristics of landslides would result. We establish an effective and practical framework, incorporating finite element method (FEM) and discrete element method (DEM), to quantitatively examine the pre- and post-failure states of progressive landslides essential to help mitigation projects in regions prone to landslide hazards. Two catastrophic landslides are presented to demonstrate the capability of the FEM-DEM framework on progressive landslide examinations, including the Aso-Bridge landslide (coseismic landslide) and the Yanchao landslide (rainfall-induced landslide), both in 2016. In addition, a simpler concept of substituting the FEM, utilizing a limit equilibrium method (LEM), in the pre-failure state of landslides is also introduced. We believe that the concept described in the study will be helpful for practical applications to mitigate landslide hazards.