Finite Element Analysis for Spatially Stochastic Soil—Anisotropic Studies

Abstract

The effect of random variation of material parameters (cohesion) on bearing capacity problem was investigated. Cohesion (c) was considered as a spatially random set of parameters within finite elements. In nature, the neighboring soil elements tend to have some correlations over a distance, which is called correlation length. Both variability of cohesion and correlation length were found to have significant effects on probability of failure. However, most studies in bearing capacity problem considered isotropic condition of correlation length, although soil elements deposit in layers (i.e. correlated more in horizontal than vertical direction). This research also explored anisotropic correlation length and its influence on the design probability of failure. The correlation length (or correlation length ratio), coefficient of variation and the design factor of safety showed inter-correlating effects on the obtained probability of failure.

Effect of soil anisotropy and variability on the stability of undrained soil slope

“…There have been some studies that incorporated soil anisotropy (Rahman and Nguyen, 2013;Nguyen and Rahman, 2015;Pieczyńska-Kozłowska et al, 2015;Li et al, 2016;Zaskórski et al, 2017) in bearing capacity problems. Some studies were done for slope stability.…”