Uncertainty Tracking and Geotechnical Reliability Updating Using Bayesian Networks

Bayesian networks are proposed as a tool to integrate reliability and influential variables relating to the slope stability of an idealized embankment. The site investigation (extent) and slope geometry, as well as the material properties and their spatial variability, are considered within a Bayesian network. The random finite element method ...

Computing the Reliability of Shallow Foundations with Spatially Distributed Measurements

In many geotechnical projects, field data is used to determine the soil parameters. In most instances, however, the statistical analysis is performed ad hoc and the spatial distribution of this data is not (expclitly) accounted for. A more formal statistical approach allows to make better use of the data and combine it in a consistent manner...

On reducing piping uncertainties: A Bayesian decision approach

Dikes and levees play a crucial role in flood protection in deltaic areas such as the Netherlands. Internal erosion piping or under-seepage is a major cause of levee failures and a main contributor to the probability of failure of river levees due to the large (mostly geotechnical) uncertainties. The present thesis investigates how geotechnical...

The Weakest Link: Spatial Variability in the Piping Failure Mechanism of Dikes

Piping is an important failure mechanism of flood defense structures. A dike fails due to piping when a head difference causes first the uplift of an inland blanket layer, and subsequently soil erosion due to a ground water flow. Spatial variability of subsoil parameters causes the probability of piping failure to increase, often to unacceptable...