Supported Excavations: Observational Method and Inverse Modeling
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 7
Abstract
An inverse analysis procedure that uses construction monitoring data to update predictions of deformations for supported excavation systems is presented. The numerical procedure is used to optimize the finite element model of a 12.2-m-deep excavation through Chicago glacial clays by minimizing the errors between monitoring data and computed displacements. The field observations are obtained from inclinometer data that measured lateral movements of the soil behind the supporting walls on opposite sides of the excavation throughout construction. Five construction stages are defined for the inverse analysis. At every new construction stage, the inclinometer data relative to that stage are added to the observations already available to “recalibrate” the model of the excavation. The constitutive responses of the soils are represented by the hardening-soil (H-S) model. Of the six basic H-S input parameters, only one parameter per layer is optimized, while the other parameters are either kept constant or related to the updated value of the optimized parameter. The methodology is effectively used to recalibrate the model of the excavation at early construction stages, such that good “predictions” are made of the behavior of the soil at later stages.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by funds from grants NSFCMS-0084664 and NSFCMS-115213 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The junior writer was partially supported by a grant from the Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) at Northwestern University. The writers thank Dr. Richard Fragaszy, Program Manager of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Systems at NSF and Mr. David Schulz, director of ITI, for their support.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 7 • July 2005
Pages: 826 - 836
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 25, 2002
Accepted: Nov 1, 2004
Published online: Jul 1, 2005
Published in print: Jul 2005
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