| Abstract: | Geotechnical structures and natural soil deposits are massive multi‐phase particulate systems characterized by the development of localized response mechanisms under extreme loading conditions. Identification and analysis of such systems based on inverse boundary value problem formulations and sparse measurements are generally indeterminate. This paper presents an alternative local inverse problem technique. Point‐wise identification analyses of the constitutive behaviour of water‐saturated geotechnical and geophysical systems are performed using acceleration and pore pressure records provided by a cluster of closely spaced sensors. The developed novel technique does not require the availability of boundary condition measurements, or solution of an associated boundary value problem. The constitutive behaviour at a specific location of a soil‐system is analysed independently of adjacent response mechanisms or material properties. Numerical simulations and centrifuge tests of a soil‐retaining wall system are used to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed technique. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
