Recent developments of the Material Point Method for the simulation of landslides

The paper describes first the theoretical framework of a "single layer" three phase material. The formulation is general and particular cases are dry and fully saturated soils. The formulation and discretization of the motion and balance equations is presented. Two constitutive equations are used in the applications described: A brittle model for saturated soils and a Mohr-Coulomb elastoplastic soil formulated in terms of net stress and suction. Three aspects of the behaviour of landslides are discussed: first time failures in over-consolidated clays; internal shearing in deep seated landslides and rain induced failures in unsaturated slopes. The discussion is supported by three real cases which are described and analyzed in detail.