A probabilistic performance-based analysis approach for a vibrator-ground interaction system

There is an increasing interest in investigating the effects of input uncertainties on dynamic systems. The probabilistic analyses for a vibrator-ground (VG) interaction system are rare and the effects of system uncertainties need to be revealed. This study aims to present an approach for the probabilistic performance-based analysis of the VG system under multi-source uncertainties. The probabilistic model of the VG system is constructed on the basis of the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation combined with the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method, while the artificial neural networks optimized by the genetic algorithms are employed to reduce the large computational expenses in the MC simulation. Then, a multi-criteria sensitivity analysis is presented by using a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate the effects of input uncertainties on the dynamic performance of the vibrator. Finally, a probabilistic simulation analysis of the VG system is conducted by implementing the presented approach. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented probabilistic performance-based analysis approach for the VG system and evaluate the effects of input uncertainties on the dynamic performance of the system.