Updating Uncertainties in Friction Angles of Clean Sands
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
It is essential to characterize the uncertainties of soil shear strengths, including friction angles of sands, for geotechnical reliability-based design. In particular, it is of practical interest to update the uncertainties in friction angles on the basis of all available information by correlation, given the considerable cost of a typical site investigation. Although it is relatively simple to update uncertainties by correlation when the information is one dimensional (1D) or univariate, it is quite challenging to update uncertainties by using multivariate information through multiple correlations. This study proposes a systematic way of constructing multivariate correlations on friction angles of reconstituted clean sands. A set of simplified equations are obtained through Bayesian analysis for the purpose of updating uncertainties. The inputs to the equations are the results of field and laboratory tests, and the outputs are the updated mean values and standard deviations of the friction angles. Test databases are used to demonstrate the consistency of the proposed simplified equations. Results show that uncertainties in friction angles can be effectively reduced by incorporating multivariate information. Given that reliability-based design can justify more economical design with updated uncertainties, the proposed equations essentially link the value of more and/or better tests directly to final design savings.
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Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, under Grant No. NSCTNSC 99-2218-E-260-001-.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • February 2012
Pages: 217 - 229
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 12, 2010
Accepted: Jun 3, 2011
Published online: Jun 6, 2011
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012
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