A Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Isotropic Spatially Variable Tensile Strength on Slope Stability

Abstract

The impact of uncertainty on the reliability of slope design is often significant. Spatial variability of soil properties has been recognized as an important factor influencing the reliability of the slope. This paper aims to investigate the influence of isotropic spatially variable tensile strength on the reliability of reinforced slope. For slope safety assessment, random finite element method represents a rigorous tool to combine spatially variable tensile strength into reliability analysis of slope stability. Numerical results showed that the spatial autocorrelation distance and the coefficient of variation of tensile strength for isotropic random field have a large influence on the probability of failure and on the normal forces when the isotropic autocorrelation distance is small in combination with a higher value of coefficient of variation of tensile strength.