Study on the rupture characteristics of the overlaying soil with soft interlayer due to fault bedrock dislocation

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 surface failure. In addition, the thickness of the soft layer also has effect on the rupture process and rupture range of the overlaying soil.