Georisk: Assessment and Management of Risk for Engineered Systems and Geohazards 

About: Georisk: Assessment and Management of Risk for Engineered Systems and Geohazards is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Computer science & Engineering. It has an ISSN identifier of 1749-9518. Over the lifetime, 425 publications have been published receiving 6099 citations.

On the estimation of scale of fluctuation in geostatistics

Abstract: Describing how soil properties vary spatially is of particular importance in stochastic analyses of geotechnical problems, because spatial variability has a significant influence on local material and global geotechnical response. In particular, the scale of fluctuation θ is a key parameter in the correlation model used to represent the spatial variability of a site through a random field. It is, therefore, of fundamental importance to accurately estimate θ in order to best model the actual soil heterogeneity. In this paper, two methodologies are investigated to assess their abilities to estimate the vertical and horizontal scales of fluctuation of a particular site using in situ cone penetration test (CPT) data. The first method belongs to the family of more traditional approaches, which are based on best fitting a theoretical correlation model to available CPT data. The second method involves a new strategy which combines information from conditional random fields with the traditional approach. Both methods are applied to a case study involving the estimation of θ at three two-dimensional sections across a site and the results obtained show general agreement between the two methods, suggesting a similar level of accuracy between the new and traditional approaches. However, in order to further assess the relative accuracy of estimates provided by each method, a second numerical analysis is proposed. The results confirm the general consistency observed in the case study calculations, particularly in the vertical direction where a large amount of data are available. Interestingly, for the horizontal direction, where data are typically scarce, some additional improvement in terms of relative error is obtained with the new approach.

Assessment of pile drivability using random forest regression and multivariate adaptive regression splines

Abstract: Driven pile is widely used as an effective and convenient structural component to transfer superstructure loads to deep stiffer soils. Nevertheless, during the design process of piles, due to the i...

Analysis of earth dam failures: A database approach

Abstract: A dam may fail when the loading exceeds the resistance against overtopping, internal erosion, slope instability, sliding/overturning, excessive deformation etc. To investigate the causes of failures, it is necessary to study characteristics of the dams which have experienced failures. In this work, more than 1600 dam failure cases throughout the world excluding China are compiled into a database, including details of the dams, the reservoirs, the triggers and the failures. This paper focuses on failure of earth dams, which make up 66% of the failure cases in the database. A statistical analysis of the failure characteristics is conducted. According to dam zoning and corewalls, earth dams are divided into four typical categories: homogeneous earthfill dams, zoned earthfill dams, earthfill dams with corewalls, and concrete faced earthfill dams. Further analysis of the failure modes and causes of the four types of earth dams is carried out. Potential locations at risk are also described to provide the reader...

Role of reliability calculations in geotechnical design

Abstract: This paper adds to the ongoing discussion on the role of reliability calculations in geotechnical design. It situates design calculations, be it verified by a global factor of safety, partial factors, or reliability-based design (RBD), in a larger context of quality management over the life cycle of the structure. It clarifies that uncertainties amenable to probabilistic treatment typically fall under the category of “known unknowns” where some measured data and/or past experience exist for limited site-specific data to be supplemented by both objective regional data and subjective judgement derived from comparable sites elsewhere. Within this category, reliability is very useful in handling complex real-world information (multivariate correlated data) and information imperfections (scarcity of information or incomplete information). It is also very useful in handling real-world design aspects such as spatial variability that cannot be easily treated using deterministic means. Examples are present...

Debris flow impact estimation for breakers

Abstract: The paper gives an overview about certain steps during the development of an Austrian code of practice for the design of debris flow barriers. In the beginning the authors discuss different debris flow impact pressure models. Results of these models are related to miniaturised and full-scale debris flow impact pressure measurements. In a further step, the consequences of uncertain input data for the different models are investigated by the application of First-Order Reliability Method and the Monte Carlo Simulation. These probabilistic methods are used either to estimate the coefficient of variation of the debris flow impact force or the weighting factors of the single input variables depending on the uncertainty. Additionally, the relevance of process modelling is discussed in short as well as the pressure distribution, the statistical consideration of the debris flow event and the choice of a partial safety factor for the load. Finally, recommendations for applications are given and remaining questions ...