Integrating Stress–Strain and Infiltration Analyses for Enhanced Slope Stability Monitoring: A Case Study in Campos do Jordão, Brazil

This article outlines a methodology for assessing landslide susceptibility and puts forth a monitoring and alert system based on computational modeling. The highlighted area is notorious region for recurring landslide incidents, resulting in both material and occasionally human losses due to extensive human settlement. Employing finite element analysis (FEA) and the limit equilibrium method (LEM) a comprehensive approach to evaluate landslide susceptibility in the specified region was developed. The analyses, incorporating stress and strain considerations and determining the factor of safety, were integrated with rainfall-induced infiltrations. The introduction of soil mass creep concepts into computational analyses aids in establishing alert and emergency thresholds for both horizontal and vertical displacements, both on the surface and at depth. Instruments were recommended for reading these parameters, generating a continuous on-site monitoring associated to several levels of alerts. A sensitivity analysis with variations in the friction angle, elastic modulus and permeability values of the unstable soil mass was performed in order to parametrically evaluate these parameters influence.