Global Search Method for Locating General Slip Surface Using Monte Carlo Techniques

• Published in: Journal of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering Vol. 127; no. 8; pp. 688 - 698
• Main Authors: Malkawi, Abdallah I. Husein, Hassan, Waleed F, Sarma, Sarada K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY American Society of Civil Engineers 01.08.2001
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; Computation methods. Tables. Charts; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Exact sciences and technology; Geotechnics; Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc; Soil mechanics. Rocks mechanics; Structural analysis. Stresses; TECHNICAL PAPERS; Monte Carlo method; Safety factor; Search strategy; Example; Problem solving; Numerical simulation; Slope stability; Soil mechanics; Implementation; Slip surface
• ISSN: 1090-0241; 1943-5606
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:8(688)

Searching for the critical slip surface and the lowest factor of safety in slope stability analysis can be achieved by means of optimization techniques. A new search procedure in generating kinematically admissible slip surfaces has been introduced in this paper. Such a procedure is based, mainly, on the Monte Carlo methods, where both the critical global slip surface as well as its associated factor of safety is determined. Several practical examples, of known minimum factor of safety and its associated slip surface, have been used to demonstrate the efficiency and capability of the proposed method. The method is intended to be robust and effective to solve problems that involve extremely complicated slope geometry. It is as powerful as any other powerful optimization methods.