• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.73-88
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• 2009

Geotechnical variability is a complex feature that results from many independent sources of uncertainties, and is mainly affected by inherent variability and measurement errors. This study evaluates the coefficient of variation (COV) of soil properties and soil layers at Song-do region in Korea. Since soil variability is sensitive to soil layers and soil types, the Cays by soil layers (reclaimed layer and marine layer) and the COVs by soil types (clay and silt) were separately evaluated. It is observed that geotechnical variability of marine layer and clay is relatively smaller than that of reclamation layer and silt. And, the highly weathered rock and soil show the higher cays in the interpretation of the strength parameters of the fresh and weathered rock. And the proposed COV of Songdo area can be used for the reliability-based design procedure.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.65-76
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• 2012

In this study, probabilistic analysis of seepage through a two-layered soil foundation was performed. The hydraulic conductivity of soil shows significant spatial variations in different layers because of stratification; further, it varies on a smaller scale within each individual layer. Therefore, the deterministic seepage analysis method was extended to develop a probabilistic approach that accounts for the uncertainties and spatial variation of the hydraulic conductivity in a layered soil profile. Two-dimensional random fields were generated on the basis of the Karhunen-Lo$\grave{e}$ve expansion in a manner consistent with a specified marginal distribution function and an autocorrelation function for each layer. A Monte Carlo simulation was then used to determine the statistical response based on the random fields. A series of analyses were performed to verify the application potential of the proposed method and to study the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity on the seepage behavior of two-layered soil foundation beneath water retaining structure. The results showed that the probabilistic framework can be used to efficiently consider the various flow patterns caused by the spatial variability of the hydraulic conductivity in seepage assessment for a layered soil foundation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.111-123
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• 2008

Geotechnical engineering problems are characterized by many sources of uncertainty. Some of these sources are connected to the uncertainties of soil properties involved in the analysis. In this paper, a numerical procedure for a probabilistic analysis that considers the spatial variability of soil properties is presented to study the response of spatially random soil. The approach integrates a commercial finite difference method and random field theory into the framework of a probabilistic analysis. Two-dimensional non-Gaussian random fields are generated based on a Karhunen-$Lo{\grave{e}}ve$ expansion in a fashion consistent with a specified marginal distribution function and an autocorrelation function. A Monte Carlo simulation is then used to determine the statistical response based on the random fields. A series of analyses were performed to study the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity on the settlement and bearing capacity of a rough strip footing. The simulations provide insight into the application of uncertainty treatment to the geotechnical problem and show the importance of the spatial variability of soil properties with regard to the outcome of a probabilistic assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.87-103
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• 2009

To determine the reliable probabilistic distribution model of geotechnical properties, outlier and randomness test for analysis data, parameter estimation of probabilistic distribution model, and goodness-of-fit test for model parameter and probabilistic distribution model have to be performed in sequence. In this paper, the probabilistic distribution model's geotechnical properties of Songdo area in Incheon are estimated by the above proposed procedure. Also, the coefficient of variation (COV) representing the variability of geotechnical properties is determined for several geotechnical properties. Reliable probabilistic distribution model and COV of geotechnical properties can be used for probability-based design procedure and reasonable choice of design value in deterministic design method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.25-35
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• 2017

Liquefaction is one of the major seismic damage, and several methods have been developed to evaluate the possibility of liquefaction. Recently, a probabilistic approach has been studied to overcome the drawback of deterministic approaches, and to consider the uncertainties of soil properties. In this study, the spatial variability of cone penetration resistance was evaluated using CPT data from three locations having different variability characteristics to perform the probabilistic analysis considering the spatial variability of soil properties. Then the random fields of cone penetration resistance considering the spatial variability of each point were generated, and a probabilistic analysis of liquefaction induced settlement was carried out through CPT-based liquefaction evaluation method. As a result, the uncertainty of soil properties can be overestimated when the spatial variability is not considered, and significant probabilistic differences can occur up to about 30% depending on the allowable settlement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.13-25
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• 2009

In this paper, a numerical procedure of probabilistic slope stability analysis that considers the spatial variability of soil properties is presented. The procedure extends the deterministic analysis based on the limit equilibrium method of slices to a probabilistic approach that accounts for the uncertainties and spatial variation of the soil parameters. Making no a priori assumptions about the critical failure surface like the Random Finite Element Method (RFEM), the approach saves the amount of solution time required to perform the analysis. Two-dimensional random fields are generated based on a Karhunen-Lo$\grave{e}$ve expansion in a fashion consistent with a specified marginal distribution function and an autocorrelation function. A Monte Carlo simulation is then used to determine the statistical response based on the random fields. A series of analyses were performed to verify the application potential of the proposed method and to study the effects of uncertainty caused by the spatial heterogeneity on the stability of slope. The results show that the proposed method can efficiently consider the various failure mechanisms caused by the spatial variability of soil property in the probabilistic slope stability assessment.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.72-81
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• 2018

Groundwater level (GWL) fluctuation, which can occur due to several artificial and natural reasons, causes reduction of bearing capacity of foundation structures and can lead settlement of ground. As a result, GWL fluctuation affects stability and serviceability of entire building. However, in many case, GWL is considered as fixed value that obtain from geotechnical investigations. That is reason that GWL fluctuation is considered as area of non-geotechnical engineering. In present study, factors causing GWL fluctuation were analyzed at urban and rural area as preliminary research of quantification of GWL fluctuation. GWL varies according to hydrological and geographical characteristics. Also, the influence factors are largely affected by hydrological and geographical characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.71-79
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• 2010

The reliable evaluation of the coefficient of variation (COV) of soil properties is required for the determination of adequate design values and the application of a probabilistic method for the design of geotechnical structures. In this paper, the applicability of methods for estimating the standard deviation, such as the. Three-Sigma Rule and a statistical method, is evaluated by using site investigation data of the Songdo area. It is found that the Three-Sigma Rule provides similar results to those of a statistical method when using $N_{\sigma}$=6 for the property with small variability and $N_{\sigma}$=4.2~5.3 for the property with large variability. It is also observed that, for the undrained shear strength that has an increasing trend with depth, a $N_{\sigma}$ value of 4 is adequate for the evaluation of the variability by the Three-Sigma Rule. The COVs of soil properties determined in this paper could be used in the estimation of the confidence interval and characteristic values of soil properties.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.101-111
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• 2006

Slope stability analysis is a geotechnical engineering problem characterized by many sources of uncertainty. Some of them are connected to the variability of soil properties involved in the analysis. In this paper, a numerical procedure of probabilistic analysis of slope stability is presented based on Spencer's method of slices. The deterministic analysis is extended to a probabilistic approach that accounts fur the uncertainties and spatial variation of the soil parameters. The procedure is based on the first-order reliability method to compute the Hasofer-Lind reliability index and Monte-Carlo Simulation. A probabilistic stability assessment was performed to obtain the variation of failure probability with the variation of soil parameters in homogeneous and layered slopes as an example. The examples give insight into the application of uncertainty treatment to the slope stability and show the impact of the spatial variability of soil properties on the outcome of a probabilistic assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.51-59
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• 2007

A reliability-based approach that can systematically model various sources of uncertainty is presented in the context of slope stability. Expressions for characterization of soil properties are developed in order to incorporate sampling errors, spatial variability and its effect of spatial averaging. Reliability analyses of slope stability with different statistical representations of soil properties show that the incorporation of sampling error, spatial correlation, and conditional simulation leads to significantly lower probability of failure than that obtained by using simple random variable approach. The results strongly suggest that the spatial variability and sampling error have to be properly incorporated in slope stability analysis.