Liquefaction Assessment and Soil Spatial Variation

Soil liquefaction is investigated considering a saturated soil deposit and by implementing standard techniques of random field theory to distribute initial void ratio values and assess liquefaction risk. The soil domain is represented in a 2-dimensional (2D) random finite element model for the dynamic analysis of coupled behavior. Multiple...

Reliability-Based Partial Factors Considering Spatial Variability of Strength Parameters

The stability of six regional dyke cross-sections in the Netherlands was re-assessed using the random finite element method (RFEM), which explicitly accounts for the spatial variability of strength parameters. The RFEM assessments of the cross-sections were shown to result in significantly narrower response distributions than those obtained...

On the design of bank revetments at inland waterways subjected to ship-induced water level drawdown: A probabilistic infinite slope analysis

To protect embankments along German inland waterways against local slope sliding failure caused by ship-induced water level drawdown, they are mainly secured by bank revetments. Often, large embankment sections are designed on the basis of a limited number of field and laboratory tests. Thus, uncertainties arise with regard to the mechanical and...

Metamodelling for geotechnical reliability analysis with noisy and incomplete models

A kriging-based metamodelling approach for analysing the structural reliability of a sheetpile wall in a dyke is formulated. This specific problem is characterised by high target reliabilities ((Formula presented.)) in combination with a noisy and incomplete numerical model response. Starting from the original formulation of active learning...

On characteristic values for calculating factors of safety for dyke stability

Various simplified approaches are used to calculate the characteristic values of shear strength properties, which have then been used in deterministic stability analyses of a dyke cross-section. The calculated factors of safety are compared with the 5-percentile ‘system response’ of the dyke cross-section, calculated using the more exhaustive...

Modelling the multiscale behaviour of claystone: Deformation, rupture, and hydro-mechanical phenomena around underground galleries

In the context of underground exploitation, the behaviour of rocks near galleries and tunnels conditions their stability. Underground drilling generates deformations, damage, fracturing, and significant modification of flow characteristics in the surrounding rock. However, the influence of small-scale characteristics and behaviour on the rock...

On the reliability assessment of a controlled dyke failure

A reliability-based analysis framework, accounting for uncertainty arising from the spatial variability of soil properties, has been validated for the controlled, well-instrumented slope failure of an historic dyke in the Netherlands. Using soil property statistics derived from the results of laboratory and cone penetration test (CPT) data for...

On characteristic values and the reliability-based assessment of dykes

A case study involving the assessment and re-design of an existing dyke, founded on a layered soil, has compared deterministic analysis based on 5-percentile property values and a reliability-based random finite element analysis consistent with the requirements of Eurocode 7. The results show that a consideration of the spatial nature of soil...

Variability in spatial distribution of mineral phases in the Lower Bowland Shale, UK, from the mm- to μm-scale: Quantitative characterization and modelling

The microstructure of a highly laminated Lower Bowland Shale sample is characterized at the micron-to millimeter scale, to investigate how such characterization can be utilized for microstructure-based modelling of the shale's geomechanical behavior. A mosaic of scanning electron microscope (SEM) back-scattered electron (BSE) images was...

Probability-dependent failure modes of slopes and cuts in heterogeneous cohesive soils

Improbable slope failure is addressed in the framework of reliability analysis of slopes in heterogeneous cohesive soils, as the small subset of realisations that fail without additional measures to trigger failure. The mode of these slope failures, located at the weak tail of the reliability curve, is demonstrated to differ significantly...

Efficient subset simulation for evaluating the modes of improbable slope failure

For analyzing low probability slope failures, a modified version of subset simulation, based on performance-based subset selection rather than the usual probability-based subset selection, is combined with the random finite element method. The application to an idealized slope is used to study the efficiency and consistency of the proposed...

Investigating the Influence of Conditional Simulation on Small-Probability Failure Events Using Subset Simulation

Spatial variation of soil strength parameters is a dominating uncertainty in slope stability analysis. This uncertainty can be accounted for in a stochastic description, based on a global geostatistical characterization of the soil strength parameters, which leads to a wide range of possible slope responses, of which only a small proportion...

Microstructural effects on strain localization in a multiscale model for hydro-mechanical coupling

Modelling the excavation damaged zone using a hydro-mechanical double-scale model

The principle of deep geological repositories for the disposal of radioactive waste relies among others on the low permeability of the host rock. As the permeability is influenced by mechanical damage of the material, the coupling between hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the host rock is of importance in the study of radioactive waste...

Modelling the excavation damaged zone using a hydro-mechanical double-scale model

Disposal of spent nuclear fuel and long lived radioactive waste in deep clay geological formations is one of the promising options worldwide. In this concept of the geological disposal system, the Boom Clay is considered as a potential host rock when designing a generic waste repository in the Netherlands. For design and evaluation of a...

Investigation of the reduction in uncertainty due to soil variability when conditioning a random field using Kriging

Spatial variability of soil properties is inherent in soil deposits, whether as a result of natural geological processes or engineering construction. It is therefore important to account for soil variability in geotechnical design in order to represent more realistically a soil’s in situ state. This variability may be modelled as a random field,...

Conditional simulation for characterising the spatial variability of sand state

Properties of soils are spatially variable and to describe the behaviour of soils as a response to loading, this variability appears crucial in giving the correct range of possible solutions for structure response. Because site investigation techniques only provide exact information at a limited part of the site, random field simulations are...