Random Finite Element Analysis for Reliability-Based Assessment of Cement-Treated Soil Columns

The paper presents the reliability-based assessment for cement-treated soil columns based on the analysis results of the finite element method with random field theory, random finite element method (RFEM). The analysis method in which the statistical uncertainty is considered in RFEM is adopted to assure the quality of the cement-treated soil column. In the analysis method, the realizations of the statistical uncertainty are estimated using a Bayesian inference method and the random fields of strength are generated with the realizations involving the statistical uncertainty. In this study, the mean µ_qu, the standard deviation σ_qu and the autocorrelation distance θ_qu of the unconfined compressive strength qu are estimated using the data acquired in practical projects. The estimated statistical parameters of qu are adopted to generate the random fields of strength for a cement-treated soil column model. In the RFEM analysis, the compression behavior of a cement-treated soil column is simulated to calculate the overall strength Q_u of a cement-treated soil column accounting for the spatial variability. The analysis results provide the probability characteristic of Q_u of the column. Based on the empirical accumulative distribution of Q_u, the reliability-based assessment is performed by calculating the probability of failure for the design strength.

Keywords: Cement-treated soil, Statistical uncertainty, Spatial variability, Random finite element method.