Finite element reliability analysis of slope stability

Abstract

The method of nonlinear finite element reliability analysis (FERA) of slope stability using the technique of slip surface stress analysis (SSA) is studied. The limit state function that can consider the direction of slip surface is given, and the formulations of FERA based on incremental tangent stiffness method and modified Aitken accelerating algorithm are developed. The limited step length iteration method (LSLIM) is adopted to calculate the reliability index. The nonlinear FERA code using the SSA technique is developed and the main flow chart is illustrated. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of this method. It is found that the accelerating convergence algorithm proposed in this study proves to be very efficient for it can reduce the iteration number greatly, and LSLIM is also efficient for it can assure the convergence of the iteration of the reliability index.