• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.287-311
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• 2015

The ultimate bearing capacity and failure mechanism of square footings resting on a sand layer over clay soil have been investigated numerically by performing a series of three-dimensional non-linear finite element analyses. The parameters investigated are the thickness of upper sand layer, strength of sand, undrained shear strength of lower clay and surcharge effect. The results obtained from finite element analyses were compared with those from previous design methods based on limit equilibrium approach. The results proved that the parameters investigated had considerable effect on the ultimate bearing capacity and failure mechanism occurring. It was also shown that the thickness of upper sand layer, the undrained shear strength of lower clay and the strength of sand are the most important parameters affecting the type of failure will occur. The value of the ultimate bearing capacity could be significantly different depending on the limit equilibrium method used.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.577-586
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• 1997

In nonlinear finite element stability analysis of structures, the foremost necessary procedure is the computation to precisely locate a singular equilibrium point, at which the instability occurs. The present study describes global and local procedures for the computation of stability points including bifurcation points and limit points. The starting point, at which the procedure will be initiated, may be close to or arbitrarily far away from the target point. It may also be an equilibrium point or non-equilibrium point. Apart from the usual equilibrium path, bypass and homotopy path are proposed as the global path to the stability point. A local iterative method is necessary, when it is inspected that the computed path point is sufficiently close to the stability point.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.601-615
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• 2001

The study area. Boeun-eup Boeun-kun, belongs to Ogchon metamorphic belt which is highly metamorphosed and consisted of complex geologic formations. Even though the geological structures and formations are complex and metamorphosed, the geological investigation and consideration are not enough and consequently the plane failure is occurred in the rock slope which was under construction on 1 : 0.5 gradient. This area is assessed as unstable and additional failure is possible by the discontinuity with same direction of failure surface. Therefore, the authors evaluate the slope stability using various analysis methods such as SMR, stereographic projection method, and the limit equilibrium analysis. In order to analyze stress redistribution and nonlinear displacement behavior caused by stress release, the authors conduct numerical analysis with UDEC and then the behavior of rock mass is analyzed after reinforcements are applied.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.555-570
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• 2010

Shallow fixed arches have a nonlinear primary equilibrium path with limit points and an unstable postbuckling equilibrium path, and they may also have bifurcation points at which equilibrium bifurcates from the nonlinear primary path to an unstable secondary equilibrium path. When a shallow fixed arch is subjected to a central step load, the load imparts kinetic energy to the arch and causes the arch to oscillate. When the load is sufficiently large, the oscillation of the arch may reach its unstable equilibrium path and the arch experiences an escaping-motion type of dynamic buckling. Nonlinear dynamic buckling of a two degree-of-freedom arch model is used to establish energy criteria for dynamic buckling of the conservative systems that have unstable primary and/or secondary equilibrium paths and then the energy criteria are applied to the dynamic buckling analysis of shallow fixed arches. The energy approach allows the dynamic buckling load to be determined without needing to solve the equations of motion.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.181-195
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• 2000

A two-step procedure for the application of non linear constrained programming to the limit analysis of rigid brick-block systems with no-tension and frictional interface is implemented and applied to various masonry structures. In the first step, a linear problem of programming, obtained by applying the upper bound theorem of limit analysis to systems of blocks interacting through no-tension and dilatant interfaces, is solved. The solution of this linear program is then employed as initial guess for a non linear and non convex problem of programming, obtained applying both the 'mechanism' and the 'equilibrium' approaches to the same block system with no-tension and frictional interfaces. The optimiser used is based on the sequential quadratic programming. The gradients of the constraints required are provided directly in symbolic form. In this way the program easily converges to the optimal solution even for systems with many degrees of freedom. Various numerical analyses showed that the procedure allows a reliable investigation of the ultimate behaviour of jointed structures, such as stone masonry structures, under statical load conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2002

Stability analysis of rocky embankment slopes is done by both the limit equilibrium method and the finite difference method. The height or the rocky embankment is approximately 40 m and the side slope is 1 vertical to 1.5 horizontal. The cohesion and internal friction angle of rock debris are assumed zero and 43$^{\circ}$, respectively. For finite difference analysis, strength reduction method is used to calculate the saft factor of the slope. As a result, the safety factor of the slope is discovered to be 1.4 by using either methods. Considering that the design criteria of the safety factor is 1.3, it can be judged that the rock fragments embankment slope is in a stable state.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.631-640
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• 2024

In the traditional slope stability analysis, ignoring the spatial variability of slope soil will lead to inaccurate analysis. In this paper, the K-L series expansion method is adopted to simulate random field of soil strength parameters. Based on Random Limit Equilibrium Method (RLEM), the influence of variation coefficient and fluctuation range on reliability of soil slope supported by micro-pile is investigated. The results show that the fluctuation ranges and the variation coefficients significantly influence the failure probability of soil slope supported by micro-pile. With the increase of fluctuation range of soil strength parameters, the mean safety factor of the slope increases slightly. The failure probability of the soil slope increases with the increase of fluctuation range when the mean safety factor of the slope is greater than 1. The failure probability of the slope increases by nearly 8.5% when the fluctuation range is increased from δ_v=2 m to δ_v =8 m. With the increase of the variation coefficient of soil strength parameters, the mean safety factor of the slope decreases slightly, and the probability of failure of soil slope increases accordingly. The failure probability of the slope increases by nearly 31% when the variation coefficient increases from COV_c=0.2, COV_φ=0.05 to COV_c=0.5, COV_φ=0.2.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.545-560
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• 2014

For slope stability analysis, an alternative to the classical limit equilibrium method (LEM) of slices is the shear strength reduction method (SRM), which can be integrated into finite element analysis or finite difference analysis. Recently, probabilistic analysis of earth slopes has been very attractive because it is capable to take the soil uncertainty into account. However, the SRM is less commonly extended to probabilistic framework compared to a variety of probabilistic LEM analysis of earth slopes. To overcome some limitations that hinder the development of probabilistic SRM stability analysis, a new procedure based on recursive algorithm FORM with sensitivity analysis in the space of original variables is proposed. It can be used to deal with correlated non-normal variables subjected to implicit limit state surface. Using the proposed approach, a probabilistic finite element analysis of the stability of an existing earth dam is carried out in this paper.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1469-1476
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• 2003

This paper provides plastic limit load solutions of cylinders with circumferential part-through surface cracks under combined axial tension, internal pressure and global bending. Such solutions are developed based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) limit analyses using elastic-perfectly-plastic material behaviour, together with analytical solutions based on equilibrium stress fields. For the crack location, both external and internal cracks are considered. Furthermore, in terms of the crack shape, both semi-elliptical and constant-depth surface cracks are considered. The resulting limit load solutions are given in a closed form, and thus can be easily used in practical situations. Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to most reliable, and thus to be valuable information for integrity assessment of piping.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.237-254
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• 2017

Estimation of slope stability is a very important task in geotechnical engineering. However, its estimation using conventional and soft computing methods has several drawbacks. Use of conventional limit equilibrium methods for the evaluation of slope stability is very tedious and time consuming, while the use of soft computing approaches like Artificial Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic are black box approaches. Multiple Regression (MR) analysis provides an alternative to conventional and soft computing methods, for the evaluation of slope stability. MR models provide a simplified equation, which can be used to calculate critical factor of safety of slopes without adopting any iterative procedure, thereby reducing the time and complexity involved in the evaluation of slope stability. In the present study, a multiple regression model has been developed and tested its accuracy in the estimation of slope stability using real field data. Here, two separate multiple regression models have been developed for dry and wet slopes. Further, the accuracy of these developed models have been compared and validated with respect to conventional limit equilibrium methods in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE) & Coefficient of determination ($R^2$). As the developed MR models here are not based on any region specific data and covers wide range of parametric variations, they can be directly applied to any real slopes.