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An efficient direct evaluation of reliability for slopes using low-discrepancy sampling

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Abstract

In this paper, to improve the computational efficiency of the reliability methods in evaluating the stability of slopes based on the uncertainty of soil properties, an efficient direct simulation approach using low-discrepancy sampling is proposed. Low-discrepancy sampling is used to generate samples, and the corresponding response values of these samples are estimated using parallel computing method. The proposed approach takes into account the inherent law between the soil strength parameters and a slope’s stability by using the deterministic models for the slope stability analysis, which are used to reduce the computational cost of the samples. The results of four examples show that the proposed approach can meet the accuracy requirements and can efficiently improve the computational efficiency. Compared with a conventional Monte Carlo simulation, the number of executing performance functions is reduced by 90%. The proposed approach proves its capabilities and can serve as a good tool for the slope reliability methods.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan (Grant No. 2022NSFSC1033) and Opening Project of Sichuan Province University Key Laboratory of Bridge Non-destruction Detecting and Engineering Computing (Grant No. 2022QZJ01).

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Correspondence to Ruide Lei.

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Hu, C., Lei, R. & Berto, F. An efficient direct evaluation of reliability for slopes using low-discrepancy sampling. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 492 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-03000-7

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