Direct search for minimum reliability index of earth slopes

Abstract The paper presents a numerical procedure for locating the surface of minimum reliability index βmin for earth slopes. The procedure uses a formulation similar to that used to search for the surface of minimum factor of safety FSmin in a conventional slope stability analysis. The advantage of the formulation lies in enabling a direct search for the critical probabilistic surface by utilizing an existing deterministic slope stability algorithm with the addition of a simple module for the calculation of the reliability index β. Applications to several cases have helped to elucidate the successful working of the procedure.

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