Automatic generation of tortuous failure surfaces in block-in-matrix materials for 2D slope stability assessments

摘要

We present an initial criterion-based methodology to automatically generate tortuous failure surfaces that can be used for different geotechnical applications, such as slope stability assessments of block-in-matrix materials. The methodology consists of two main steps: firstly, the structure of the material must be represented as a grid graph and, secondly, the optimal pathfinding algorithm A* is applied to the graph; both steps are described in detail. The proposed formulation is validated by comparing the outcome with a direct shear test assembly modeled through the finite-element method and, in the end, we present an example of the methodology applied to a slope.