Stability analysis of three-dimensional seismic landslides using the rigorous limit equilibrium method

• Stability of three-dimensional seismic landslides is analyzed.
• The rigorous limit equilibrium method and the pseudo-dynamic method are adopted.
• The pseudo-dynamic factor of safety of 3D seismic landslides is determined.
• Effects of earthquake on landslides are analyzed by neural network algorithm.

In this paper, a new method combining the rigorous limit equilibrium method and the pseudo-dynamic method is proposed to investigate stability of 3D seismic landslides, in which the force equilibrium conditions along three coordinate axes and the overall moment equilibrium conditions around three coordinate axes are all strictly satisfied. Moreover, sinusoidal–cosinusoidal wave is applied to simulate earthquake displacement and an amplification factor of peak seismic acceleration is referred to as the amplification of seismic wave when it propagates from the bottom to the top of landslides. The pseudo-dynamic factor of safety of 3D seismic landslides is determined using trust-region-reflective iterative algorithm. The effects of the parameters of the seismic landslides on the stability are analyzed by the BP neural network algorithm, in which a database to investigate the stability of 3D seismic landslides is established. In addition, the stability of Donghekou landslide is studied to verify the accuracy and precision of the present method.