Random Field-Based Numerical Modeling of Deep Excavation in Soft Soils for Adjacent Building Damage Probability Assessment

Abstract

AbstractIn densely populated areas, it is common the need for using deep excavations for different infrastructure works, but they may cause excessive ground movements and generate damages to neighboring buildings. The analysis of deep excavations in soft soils is a complex problem in which the use of a combination of numerical and probabilistic techniques is useful to represent the behavior of such inherently variable deposits. In the numerical and probabilistic analysis, constitutive soil parameters can be treated as random fields to deal with uncertainty due to spatial variability. In this research, parameters E50ref and E0ref from the constitutive model Hardening Soil Small Strain are simulated as random fields. Numerical analyses are performed on tridimensional models of deep excavations in Bogotá soft soils, obtaining system response in terms of damage potential indexes in adjacent buildings. The damage probabilities are assessed for each building and simulated construction stage. Obtained damage probabilities from random field-based modeling are compared with the ones obtained from random-variable based modeling.KeywordsBuilding damageDamage probabilityDeep excavationNumerical-probabilistic analysisRandom field-based modelingSoft soils