Application of a support vector machine for prediction of slope stability

Abstract

Slope stability estimation is an engineering problem that involves several parameters. To address these problems, a hybrid model based on the combination of support vector machine (SVM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed in this study to improve the forecasting performance. PSO was employed in selecting the appropriate SVM parameters to enhance the forecasting accuracy. Several important parameters, including the magnitude of unit weight, cohesion, angle of internal friction, slope angle, height, pore water pressure coefficient, were used as the input parameters, while the status of slope was the output parameter. The results show that the PSO-SVM is a powerful computational tool that can be used to predict the slope stability.