JRMGE / Vol 16 / Issue 3

Article

Uncertainty quantification of inverse analysis for geomaterials using probabilistic programming

Hongbo Zhao, Shaojun Li, Xiaoyu Zang, Xinyi Liu, Lin Zhang, Jiaolong Ren

Show More

a School of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, 255000, China
b State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China


2024, 16(3): 895-908. doi:10.1016/j.jrmge.2023.07.014


Received: 2023-01-20 / Revised: 2023-04-30 / Accepted: 2023-07-09 / Available online: 2023-09-23

2024, 16(3): 895-908.

doi:10.1016/j.jrmge.2023.07.014


Received: 2023-01-20

Revised: 2023-04-30

Accepted: 2023-07-09

Available online: 2023-09-23


Abstract:

Uncertainty is an essentially challenging for safe construction and long-term stability of geotechnical engineering. The inverse analysis is commonly utilized to determine the physico-mechanical parameters. However, conventional inverse analysis cannot deal with uncertainty in geotechnical and geological systems. In this study, a framework was developed to evaluate and quantify uncertainty in inverse analysis based on the reduced-order model (ROM) and probabilistic programming. The ROM was utilized to capture the mechanical and deformation properties of surrounding rock mass in geomechanical problems. Probabilistic programming was employed to evaluate uncertainty during construction in geotechnical engineering. A circular tunnel was then used to illustrate the proposed framework using analytical and numerical solution. The results show that the geomechanical parameters and associated uncertainty can be properly obtained and the proposed framework can capture the mechanical behaviors under uncertainty. Then, a slope case was employed to demonstrate the performance of the developed framework. The results prove that the proposed framework provides a scientific, feasible, and effective tool to characterize the properties and physical mechanism of geomaterials under uncertainty in geotechnical engineering problems.

Download PDF:


Keywords: Geological engineering, Geotechnical engineering, Inverse analysis, Uncertainty quantification, Probabilistic programming

Show Figure(s)


Share and Cite

Hongbo Zhao, Shaojun Li, Xiaoyu Zang, Xinyi Liu, Lin Zhang, Jiaolong Ren, 2024. Uncertainty quantification of inverse analysis for geomaterials using probabilistic programming. J. Rock Mech. Geotech. Eng. 16 (3), 895-908.

Author(s) Information

Hongbo Zhao

✉️ bxhbzhao@hotmail.com

✉️ hbzhao@sdut.edu.cn

Hongbo Zhao is a professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Geomatics at Shandong University of Technology, China. He obtained his Ph.D. in solid mechanics from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003. His interests include back analysis, uncertainty analysis of rock engineering, and reliability-based design of rock engineering. He has been in charge of over 10 projects, including National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and New Century Excellent Talents at the University. He is the author and co-author of over 150 scientific papers and has been honored as “Stanford University World's Top 2% Scientists (1996–2022)".