Probabilistic slope stability analysis considering spatial variability of soil properties: Influence of correlation length

This paper presents a probabilistic slope stability analysis considering spatial variations for soil properties and attempts to identify the effect of spatial correlation structure on the probability of slope failure. Covariance Matrix Decomposition method based on Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) is used for the generation of spatial variability and evaluating the probability of failure. Finite difference numerical code FLAC2D and numerical computing programming language MATLAB have been utilized for this purpose. This study shows that a slope with a given factor of safety can exhibit different probability of failure depending on the spatial variation. Probability of failure is observed to increase with increase in correlation length for both isotropic and anisotropic conditions, where only the isotropic condition exhibited a limit probability of failure.