Introduction

Abstract

Seismic performance evaluation in geotechnical and slope engineering has made great progress thanks to arduous efforts by a multitude of researchers. However, performance-based seismic design (PBSD) theory has not been fully used in the seismic design practice of slope engineering owing to the dynamic coupling effects amidst earthquake excitation stochasticity, the spatial variability of three-dimensional rock and soil mass, and the strongly nonlinear and dilatancy effects of the stress–strain relationship. The primary task in this direction is to establish an overall performance-based seismic design and evaluation framework in the field of slope engineering to meet the dynamic seismic safety needs for geotechnical engineering such as slope. The next major challenge in the field of PBSD assessment of slope engineering is to change the seismic analysis method of slope engineering from limit state design to nonlinear dynamic deformation evaluation based on time-domain analysis, not only in academic fields but also in engineering practice. A PBSD framework and guideline for slope engineering are established based on stochastic dynamics theory in combination with a series of deterministic analyses including time-domain nonlinear dynamic analysis and stochastic dynamics. This chapter briefly introduces the main contents of this book and summarizes a series of improvements made to the seismic performance evaluation framework in the field of slope stochastic dynamics.