Probabilistic concept and its application in geotechnical stability analyses

Abstract

Subject of scientific research conducted within this thesis are geotechnical stability analyses, in which the definition of an appropriate soil model due to the complexity of the material (soil) and uncertainties inherent in the influencing factors (soil parameters and load) is difficult. Research methods are dictated by the nature of the problem which is the subject of research. Modeling of soil for geotechnical stability analysis is based on the identification of input parameters (soil characteristics and load), entering their numerical values (constant - for deterministic analysis, and probability distribution functions to describe the range of possible values of each parameter - for purposes of applying the probabilistic concept of stability analysis). Comparative stability analysis of each of a series of selected typical geotechnical problems is performed using the first deterministic, then probabilistic concept. The limitations of traditional deterministic approach are that it does not consider the uncertainty of input parameters and does not provide information on the probability of failure. The task of research is to provide a detailed insight into the structure of stability analysis procedures based on a probabilistic concept, where each input parameter is defined by the range of possible values and a probability distribution function. The results clearly show the advantages of probabilistic approaches in stability analysis and the need for its wider application in our community