Dynamic response of a dip slope with multi-slip planes revealed by shaking table tests

This study investigated the effect of internal discontinuity on the dynamic response of a dip slope and evaluated the performance of Newmark’s theory on the sliding of a dip slope with multi-slip planes. A series of shaking table tests were performed under various geometric conditions to explore the dynamic behavior of a dip slope under different external excitations. The test results, including for deformation processes and critical accelerations, under various slope angles, slope sizes, and seismic intensities were examined and further compared with Newmark’s theory. The results of this study are summarized as follows: (1) two types of slope sliding (differential and complete) were determined. (2) Increasing the slope angle and the height of sliding mass tended to shorten the duration of slope deformation. (3) Critical acceleration of the slope increased gradually with increasing peak ground accelerations of input excitations; when the slope height and dip angle increased, the critical acceleration decreased. (4) The triggering time became earlier as the frequency of input excitation increased; the magnitude of sliding mass greatly depended on the amplitude of the input excitation. (5) By comparing critical acceleration between the experimental and theoretical results, Newmark’s theory was determined to overestimate critical acceleration during seismic-induced dip slope failure. This may cause unsafe evaluations, and sliding along existing discontinuities develops more easily in reality.