Simulated Crack and Slip Plane Propagation in Soil Slopes with Embedded Discontinuities Using XFEM

To simulate the onset and growth of strong discontinuities (cracks or slip planes) and the failure mechanism in soil slopes with reasonable accuracy, a program was developed based on the existing extended finite-element method (XFEM). This program consists of a new analytical algorithm for strong-discontinuity initiation and propagation in soils considering the stress concentration and redistribution around the discontinuity tip and an integration scheme for the XFEM enriched discontinuities. Two different types of interfacial contact constitutive models are used to describe the interface behavior of the cracks or slip planes. Analyses of two slope failure examples are presented to demonstrate the reliability of this program and the reference values for engineering measurements. (C) 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.