Two Dimension Numerical Modeling and Laboratory Experiment of Slope Change in Granular Piles Due to Water Content

Two dimension numerical modeling by means of molecular dynamics method and laboratory experimental were carried out to investigate maximum stable slope in granular piles due to water content. This study is aimed to get a better understanding of landslide mechanisms. Newton or Coulomb's law as well as damped harmonic oscillation were adopted to represent grains interactions. Soft sphere grains and sands were used in numerical calculation and laboratory experiment respectively. It is shown that the relationship between water content and slope stability obtained from experimental and numerical modeling has similar trend. Stable slope increases as water content or grain interaction increases until some certain amount of water. Addition of water above saturation level will cause sand pile reach slurry condition as observed in laboratory experiment. The results apparently show that grain interaction constant can be related to water content.