Bearing capacity of strip footings on spatially random soils using sparse polynomial chaos expansion

A probabilistic model is presented to compute the probability density function (PDF) of the ultimate bearing capacity of a strip footing resting on a spatially varying soil. The soil cohesion and friction angle were considered as two anisotropic cross‐correlated non‐Gaussian random fields. The deterministic model was based on numerical simulations. An efficient uncertainty propagation methodology that makes use of a non‐intrusive approach to build up a sparse polynomial chaos expansion for the system response was employed. The probabilistic numerical results were presented in the case of a weightless soil. Sobol indices have shown that the variability of the ultimate bearing capacity is mainly due to the soil cohesion. An increase in the coefficient of variation of a soil parameter (c or φ) increases its Sobol index, this increase being more significant for the friction angle. The negative correlation between the soil shear strength parameters decreases the response variability. The variability of the ultimate bearing capacity increases with the increase in the coefficients of variation of the random fields, the increase being more significant for the cohesion parameter. The decrease in the autocorrelation distances may lead to a smaller variability of the ultimate bearing capacity. Finally, the probabilistic mean value of the ultimate bearing capacity presents a minimum. This minimum is obtained in the isotropic case when the autocorrelation distance is nearly equal to the footing breadth. However, for the anisotropic case, this minimum is obtained at a given value of the ratio between the horizontal and vertical autocorrelation distances. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consolidation in spatially random unsaturated soils based on coupled flow‐deformation simulation

This paper integrates random field simulation of soil spatial variability with numerical modeling of coupled flow and deformation to investigate consolidation in spatially random unsaturated soil. The spatial variability of soil properties is simulated using the covariance matrix decomposition method. The random soil properties are imported into an interactive multiphysics software COMSOL to solve the governing partial differential equations. The effects of the spatial variability of Young's modulus and saturated permeability together with unsaturated hydraulic parameters on the dissipation of excess pore water pressure and settlement are investigated using an example of consolidation in a saturated‐unsaturated soil column because of loading. It is found that the surface settlement and the pore water pressure profile during the process of consolidation are significantly affected by the spatially varying Young's modulus. The mean value of the settlement of the spatially random soil is more than 100% greater than that of the deterministic case, and the surface settlement is subject to large uncertainty, which implies that consolidation settlement is difficult to predict accurately based on the conventional deterministic approach. The uncertainty of the settlement increases with the scale of fluctuation because of the averaging effect of spatial variability. The effects of spatial variability of saturated permeability k_sat and air entry parameters are much less significant than that of elastic modulus. The spatial variability of air entry value parameters affects the uncertainties of settlement and excess pore pressure mostly in the unsaturated zone. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probabilistic failure analysis of infinite slopes under random rainfall processes and spatially variable soil

Rainfall-induced landslides occur during or immediately after rainfall events in which the pore water pressure builds up, leading to shallow slope failure. Thereby, low permeability layers result in high gradients in pore water pressure. The spatial variability of the soil permeability influences the probability such low permeability layers, and hence the probability of slope failure. In this paper, we investigate the influence of the vertical variability of soil permeability on the slope reliability, accounting for the randomness of rainfall processes. We model the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil with a one-dimensional random field. The random rainfall events are characterised by their duration and intensity and are modelled through self-similar random processes. The transient infiltration process is represented by Richards equation, which is evaluated numerically. The reliability analysis of the infinite slope is based on the factor of safety concept for evaluating slope stability. To cope with the large number of random variables arising from the discretization of the random field and the rainfall process, we evaluate the slope reliability through Subset Simulation, which is an adaptive Monte Carlo method known to be especially efficient for reliability analysis of such high-dimensional problems. Numerical investigations show higher probability of slope failure with increased spatial variability of the saturated hydraulic conductivity and with more uniform rainfall patterns.     

Probabilistic analysis of reinforced slopes using RFEM and considering spatial variability of frictional soil properties due to compaction

Probabilistic stability analyses of constructed wrapped-face reinforced slopes (or embankments) using frictional soils were carried out using the random finite element method (RFEM). Soil properties reported in the literature for unsaturated frictional fills compacted to different densities were used in the simulations. Bar elements were added to the RFEM code to simulate extensible geosynthetic reinforcement layers and the Davis approach was used to improve numerical stability for purely frictional soil slopes at collapse. The influence of isotropic and anisotropic spatially variable soil strength was investigated and shown to have a large influence on the variation of maximum mobilised tensile forces in reinforcement layers for the steep 5 m-high slopes in the study. The influence of fill placed at different layer thickness and compacted to different levels was simulated by adjusting the soil strength and unit weight, and the vertical strength correlation length in the anisotropic spatially variable strength field used in each slope realisation. Numerical results showed that vertical strength correlation lengths approaching the magnitude of fill lift heights can control the probability of failure for reinforced slopes constructed with weak fills placed in lift heights close to but less than the wrapped reinforcement spacing used in the study.     

Modeling soil variability as a random field

The observed variability in the spatial distribution of soil properties suggests that it is natural to describe such distribution as a random field. One of the ways to study engineering problems in such a stochastic setting is by the use of the Monte-Carlo simulation procedure. Application of this technique requires the capability to generate a large number of realizations of a given random field. A numerical procedure for the generation of such realizations in two-dimensional space is introduced as a finite difference approximation of a stochastic differential equation. The equation used was that suggested by Heine (1955). The resulting procedure is essentially similar to other autoregressive procedures used for the same purpose (Whittle, 1954; Smith and Freeze, 1979). However, contrary to these procedures, the present one is defined in terms of physically significant parameters:r ₀, the autocorrelation distance;, the discretization size; and the standard deviation, . Formulating the simulation procedure in terms of the physically significant parameters (r ₀,, ) greatly simplifies the task of generating realizations that are compatable with a given soil deposit.     

Karhunen-Loeve展开在土性各向异性随机场模拟中的应用研究

研究了Karhunen-Loeve(简称KL)展开在土性参数随机场模拟中的应用,分析了KL展开的特点,针对不规则区域和任意类型协方差函数提出了积分方程的Galerkin数值解法,模拟了土壤渗透系数各向异性随机场。分析结果表明：较低阶Karhunen-Loeve展开能够较好描述随机场的空间结构,与转动带法相比,KL展开法在模拟随机场的各向异性特性方面更具优势;与谱展开法相比,KL展开法具有更优的收敛性。     

Extension of subset simulation approach for uncertainty propagation and global sensitivity analysis

The subset simulation (SS) method is a probabilistic approach which is devoted to efficiently calculating a small failure probability. Contrary to Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) methodology which is very time-expensive when evaluating a small failure probability, the SS method has the advantage of assessing the small failure probability in a much shorter time. However, this approach does not provide any information about the probability density function (PDF) of the system response. In addition, it does not provide any information about the contribution of each input uncertain parameter in the variability of this response. Finally, the SS approach cannot be used to calculate the partial safety factors which are generally obtained from a reliability analysis. To overcome these shortcomings, the SS approach is combined herein with the Collocation-based Stochastic Response Surface Method (CSRSM) to compute these outputs. This combination is carried out by using the different values of the system response obtained by the SS approach for the determination of the unknown coefficients of the polynomial chaos expansion in CSRSM. An example problem that involves the computation of the ultimate bearing capacity of a strip footing is presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed procedure. The validation of the present method is performed by comparison with MCS methodology applied on the original deterministic model. Finally, a probabilistic parametric study is presented and discussed.     

Effect of spatial variability of cross‐correlated soil properties on bearing capacity of strip footing

Geotechnical engineering problems are characterized by many sources of uncertainty. Some of these sources are connected to the uncertainties of soil properties involved in the analysis. In this paper, a numerical procedure for a probabilistic analysis that considers the spatial variability of cross‐correlated soil properties is presented and applied to study the bearing capacity of spatially random soil with different autocorrelation distances in the vertical and horizontal directions. The approach integrates a commercial finite difference method and random field theory into the framework of a probabilistic analysis. Two‐dimensional cross‐correlated non‐Gaussian random fields are generated based on a Karhunen–Loève expansion in a manner consistent with a specified marginal distribution function, an autocorrelation function, and cross‐correlation coefficients. A Monte Carlo simulation is then used to determine the statistical response based on the random fields. A series of analyses was performed to study the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity on the bearing capacity of a rough strip footing. The simulations provide insight into the application of uncertainty treatment to geotechnical problems and show the importance of the spatial variability of soil properties with regard to the outcome of a probabilistic assessment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

表层土渗透系数空间变异与随机模拟研究

在汉江遥堤典型堤段对堤后200 m?100 m范围内表层土取样进行渗透性试验,基于试验结果分析了土体渗透系数的随机性和结构性的空间变异特征,结果表明细砂渗透系数在水平方向具有各向同性,空间结构可用指数模型描述。采用转向带法进行渗透系数随机场模拟,从基本统计量、空间结构等方面进行的分析表明,转向带法模拟结果保持了原随机场的统计特性,具有较好的收敛性。     

Probabilistic analysis of strip footings based on enhanced Kriging metamodeling

Two advanced Kriging metamodeling techniques were used to compute the failure probability of geotechnical structures involving spatially varying soil properties. These methods are based on a Kriging metamodel combined with a global sensitivity analysis that is called in literature Global Sensitivity Analysis-enhanced Surrogate (GSAS) modeling for reliability analysis. The GSAS methodology may be used in combination with either the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) or importance sampling (IS) method. The resulting Kriging metamodeling techniques are called GSAS-MCS or GSAS-IS. The objective of these techniques is to reduce the number of calls of the mechanical model as compared with the classical Kriging-based metamodeling techniques (called AK-MCS and AK-IS) combining Kriging with MCS or IS. The soil uncertain parameters were assumed as non-Gaussian random fields. EOLE methodology was used to discretize these random fields. The mechanical models were based on numerical simulations. Some probabilistic numerical results are presented and discussed.     

Probabilistic analysis of simple slopes with cohesive soil strength using RLEM and RFEM

The 2D random finite element method and the one-dimensional and 2D random limit equilibrium method are used to investigate the influence of spatial variability of soil strength parameters on the probability of failure of simple soil slopes with cohesive undrained shear strength. The combined influence of spatial variability of soil properties and cross-correlation between undrained soil strength and unit weight on the computed probability of failure is explored. The paper identifies conditions where numerical outcomes are similar and where they are not. The limitations of each analysis method are described and implications to analysis and design are identified.

Abbreviations: FEM: finite element method; LEM: limit equilibrium method; RFEM: random finite element method; RLEM: random limit equilibrium method     

Advanced reliability analysis of slopes in spatially variable soils using multivariate adaptive regression splines

This study aims to extend the multivariate adaptive regression splines(MARS)-Monte Carlo simulation(MCS) method for reliability analysis of slopes in spatially variable soils. This approach is used to explore the influences of the multiscale spatial variability of soil properties on the probability of failure(P_f) of the slopes. In the proposed approach, the relationship between the factor of safety and the soil strength parameters characterized with spatial variability is approximated by the MARS, with the aid of Karhunen-Loeve expansion. MCS is subsequently performed on the established MARS model to evaluate Pf.Finally, a nominally homogeneous cohesive-frictional slope and a heterogeneous cohesive slope, which are both characterized with different spatial variabilities, are utilized to illustrate the proposed approach.Results showed that the proposed approach can estimate the P_f of the slopes efficiently in spatially variable soils with sufficient accuracy. Moreover, the approach is relatively robust to the influence of different statistics of soil properties, thereby making it an effective and practical tool for addressing slope reliability problems concerning time-consuming deterministic stability models with low levels of P_f.Furthermore, disregarding the multiscale spatial variability of soil properties can overestimate or underestimate the P_f. Although the difference is small in general, the multiscale spatial variability of the soil properties must still be considered in the reliability analysis of heterogeneous slopes, especially for those highly related to cost effective and accurate designs.     

基于广义子集模拟的土坡系统可靠度分析

如何有效地评价边坡的系统可靠度并识别出对边坡稳定性具有重要影响的关键滑面一直是边坡稳定性分析的关键问题。提出了基于广义子集模拟的边坡系统可靠度分析方法及代表性滑面识别方法,并推导了基于广义子集模拟的边坡系统可靠度计算公式及边坡中滑面对边坡系统失效的相对贡献量化公式。基于广义子集模拟计算结果,采用概率网络评价方法识别边坡代表性滑面。以一个双层黏性土坡和芝加哥国会切坡算例验证了所提方法的有效性。结果表明：提出的基于广义子集模拟的边坡系统可靠度分析方法可有效地估计边坡系统及其单一滑面的失效概率,对于具有低失效概率水平边坡可靠度的求解,其计算效率明显优于传统蒙特卡洛模拟方法。此外,对于单个失效模式而言,广义子集模拟与子集模拟计算效率相当。对于多个失效模式的失效概率计算问题,广义子集模拟不需要重复对每个失效模式失效概率进行计算,计算效率明显优于子集模拟。提出的代表性滑面选择方法是在系统失效概率及单滑面失效概率的高效计算基础上实现的,代表性滑动面能够较好地代表边坡系统失效,从而有效地降低了边坡系统失效概率对代表性滑面数目及代表性滑面失效概率估计准确性的依赖性。     

不排水抗剪强度非平稳随机场模拟及边坡可靠度分析

边坡可靠度分析中通常假定采用平稳或准平稳随机场表征土体参数的空间变异性,然而大量现场试验数据表明,土体参数如不排水抗剪强度沿土体埋深常呈现明显的非平稳分布特征,即其均值和标准差均随埋深发生变化,因此亟需发展土体参数非平稳随机场模型及其模拟方法。针对目前不能有效单独模拟土体参数趋势分量和随机波动分量的不确定性,提出了一种有效的不排水抗剪强度参数非平稳随机场模型,并给出了土体参数二维非平稳随机场模拟方法计算流程,同时将新提出的模型与现有非平稳随机场模型及平稳随机场模型进行了系统比较。最后通过不排水饱和黏土边坡算例验证了提出模型的有效性,并揭示了不排水抗剪强度非平稳分布特征对边坡可靠度的影响规律。结果表明：提出模型能够有效地单独模拟土体参数趋势分量和随机波动分量的不确定性,考虑土体参数均值和标准差随埋深增加而增大的特性,可为表征土体参数非平稳分布特征提供了一条有效的途径。此外,与采用非平稳随机场模拟土体参数空间变异性相比,采用常用的平稳随机场模型会低估边坡失效概率,从而造成偏危险的边坡工程设计方案。     

Spatial variability effect of internal friction angle on the post-failure behavior of landslides using a random and non-Newtonian fluid based SPH method

This study proposed a random Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method for analyzing the post-failure behavior of landslides,which is based on the Karhunen-Loeve(K-L) expansion,the non-Newtonian fluid model,and the OpenMP parallel framework.Then,the applicability of this method was validated by comparing the generated random field with theoretical result and by simulating the post-failure process of an actual landslide.Thereafter,an illustrative landslide example was created and simulated to obtain the spatial variability effect of internal friction angle on the post-failure behavior of landslides under different coefficients of variation(COVs) and correlation lengths(CLs).As a conclusion,the reinforcement with materials of a larger friction angle can reduce the runout distance and impact the force of a landslide.As the increase of COV,the distribution range of influence zones also increases,which indicates that the deviation of influence zones becomes large.In addition,the correlation length in Monte Carlo simulations should not be too small,otherwise the variation range of influence zones will be underestimated.     

Three-dimensional finite element analysis of spatially variable PVD improved ground

A stochastic approach that investigates the effects of soil spatial variability on stabilisation of soft clay via prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) is presented and discussed. The approach integrates the local average subdivision of random field theory with the Monte Carlo finite element (FE) technique. A special feature of the current study is the investigation of impact of spatial variability of soil permeability and volume compressibility in the smear zone as compared to that of the undisturbed zone, in conjunction with uncoupled three-dimensional FE analysis. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to identify the random variable that has the major contribution to the uncertainty of the degree of consolidation achieved via PVDs. The results of this study indicate that the spatial variability of soil properties has a significant impact on soil consolidation by PVDs; however, the spatial variability of soil properties in the smear zone has a dominating impact on soil consolidation by PVDs over that of the undisturbed zone. It is also found that soil volume compressibility has insignificant contribution to the degree of consolidation estimated by uncoupled stochastic analysis.     

列车荷载下冻土路基非平稳随机振动分析的时域显式法北大核心CSCD

随着我国冻土地区铁路运营里程的不断提升,冻土路基在随机列车荷载作用下的动力响应分析成为了急需解决的工程问题。本文以青藏铁路某路基横断面为例,采用时域显式蒙特卡罗模拟法,计算其在随机列车荷载作用下响应的统计特征。首先,提出列车驶过施加在路基顶面荷载的快速计算方法,并引入轨道不平顺及列车行驶速度两类随机参数,以生成随机分析所需的大量荷载样本。然后,采用数值积分方法将运动方程在时域上进行离散,建立任意离散时刻冻土路基动力响应关于列车荷载的显式表达式。基于该显式表达式,可以高效地实施蒙特卡罗模拟,得到在随机列车荷载作用下路基关键响应的均值、标准差和峰值等统计量。采用该方法,分析了路基在夏冬两个季节不同深度处的随机动力响应,发现在夏季路基浅层中的位移和速度响应最为剧烈。数值算例表明,时域显式蒙特卡罗模拟法在冻土路基随机振动分析中具有理想的计算精度和计算效率。     

考虑空间变异性条件下的边坡稳定可靠度高效敏感性分析

在有限数据条件下,可靠度敏感性分析是研究各种不确定性因素对边坡失稳概率影响规律的重要途径。基于直接蒙特卡洛模拟和概率密度加权分析方法提出了一种高效边坡稳定可靠度敏感性分析方法。所提出的方法通过随机场表征岩土体参数的空间变异性,并采用局部平均理论建立岩土体参数的缩维概率密度函数,用于概率密度加权分析中高效、准确地计算不同敏感性分析方案对应的边坡失稳概率。最后,通过一个工程案例--詹姆斯湾堤坝说明了所提出方法的有效性和准确性。结果表明：在敏感性分析过程中,所提出的方法只需要执行一次直接蒙特卡洛模拟,避免了针对不同敏感性分析方案重新产生随机样本和执行边坡稳定分析,节约了大量的计算时间和计算资源,显著提高了基于蒙特卡洛模拟的敏感性分析计算效率;在概率密度加权分析中采用岩土体参数的缩维概率密度函数能够准确地计算边坡失稳概率,避免了有偏估计,使概率密度加权分析方法适用于考虑空间变异性条件下的边坡稳定可靠度敏感性分析问题。     

土性参数的随机场模型及桩体沉降变异特性分析

考虑土体参数的空间变异性,建立了土体变形模量的随机场模型并推导了方差拆减系数计算公式,研究了竖向和径向自相关距离对桩体沉降变异性的影响。