Generating Slip Surfaces Using the Logistic Function Integral
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 5
Abstract
How to generate slip surfaces efficiently is crucial for the stability analysis of slopes. Traditional approaches for generating slip surfaces rely directly on the geometric features of slopes, which makes it complicated to generate arbitrary slip surfaces. Moreover, the resulting surfaces are usually not smooth in many cases. This study proposes a method for generating an arbitrary slip surface utilizing the superposition of the integral of the logistic function. This technique can transform the traditional geometry problem into a parameter selection one, in which three groups of parameters in the function determine the shape of the slip surface. The higher-order continuity and differentiable property of this function ensure the smoothness of the slip surfaces. The paper investigates the impact of relevant parameters on the slip surface’s pattern and provides the upper and lower bounds of the control variables. This method further develops a procedure for producing arbitrary slip surfaces. The factor of safety and the critical slip surface are calculated using the Morgenstern–Price method and the biogeography-based optimization. After constructing the slip surfaces by this method, two cases in Association for Computer Aided Design show that this method is applicable and verify its calculation accuracy by comparing the factor of safety and the critical slip surface. The results indicate that this approach presents a new direction for the slip surface structure, which can be a general method extending from two to three dimensions.
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Acknowledgments
The research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant Nos. 52108372 and 52090081).
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- a
- parameter of the logistic function;
- b
- parameter of the logistic function;
- C
- integral constant;
- c
- parameter of the logistic function;
- c0
- parameter of the additional linear function;
- d0
- parameter of the additional linear function;
- f(x)
- integration form of L(x);
- g(x)
- superposition of step functions;
- H(t)
- step function;
- L
- length of the slope;
- L(x)
- superposition of the logistic function;
- l(x)
- logistic function;
- n
- number of slices;
- s
- normalized abscissa;
- s(t)
- integral form of the logistic function;
- t
- normalized ordinate;
- xA
- abscissa of point A;
- xB
- abscissa of point B;
- yA
- ordinate of point A;
- yB
- ordinate of point B;
- y0
- integration constant;
- αi
- coefficient; and
- ξ
- coefficient.
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 3, 2022
Accepted: Oct 31, 2022
Published online: Feb 22, 2023
Published in print: May 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jul 22, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Arbitration
- Business management
- Design (by type)
- Dispute resolution
- Engineering fundamentals
- Freight transportation
- Geomechanics
- Geometrics
- Geotechnical engineering
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- Legal affairs
- Logistics
- Mathematics
- Parameters (statistics)
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
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- Transportation engineering
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