In this paper,the rupture characteristics of the overlaying soil with soft interlayer were studied by plane-strain finite element method. From the results,it can be shown that the existence of soft layer separates rupture process of the overlaying soil into two phases. The depth of a buried soft interlayer will influence the rupture process and the rupture range of the overlaying soil. The deeply buried soft interlayer would bring about a wider range of sur-face failure. In addition,the thickness of the soft layer also has effect on the rupture process and rupture range of the overlaying soil.
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