Probabilistic modelling of auto-correlation characteristics of heterogeneous slopes |
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| Authors: | Thi Minh Hue Le Marcelo Sánchez Domenico Gallipoli Simon Wheeler |
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| Affiliation: | 1. SINTEF Building and Infrastructure - SINTEF, Lerkendalsbygget *1, H?gskoleringen, Trondheim, Norwaythi.le@sintef.no;3. Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&4. M University, TX, USA;5. Laboratoire SIAME, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Anglet, France;6. Infrastructure &7. Environment Research Division, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK |
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| Abstract: | Spatial variability of soil materials has long been recognised as an important factor influencing the reliability of geo-structures. This study stochastically investigates the influence of spatial variability of shear strength on the stability of heterogeneous slopes, focusing on the auto-correlation function, auto-correlation distance and cross-correlation between soil parameters. The finite element method is merged with the random field theory to probabilistically evaluate factor of safety and probability of failure via Monte-Carlo simulations. The simulation procedure is explained in detail with suggestions on improving efficiency of the Monte-Carlo process. A simple procedure to create cross-correlation between random variables, which allows direct comparison of the influence of each strength variable, is discussed. The results show that the auto-correlation distance and cross-correlation can significantly influence slope stability, while the choice of auto-correlation function only has a minor effect. An equation relating the probability of failure with the auto-correlation distance is suggested in light of the analyses performed in this work and other results from the literature. |
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| Keywords: | factor of safety slope stability random field spatial variability cross-correlation |
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