Smart Determination of Borehole Number and Locations for Stability Analysis of Multi-layered Slopes using Multiple Point Statistics and Information Entropy

Subsurface stratigraphy of multi-layered slopes is essential and crucial for slope stability analysis. It is usual practice for engineers to interpret stratigraphic boundaries using both site investigation data and prior knowledge of local geology, but such practice might encounter significant challenge when the site data are very limited. In addition, uncertainty in stratigraphic boundaries has not been explicitly or quantitatively considered in planning of site investigation (e.g., determination of borehole number and locations). In this study, a smart sampling strategy based on multiple point statistics and information entropy is proposed for delineation of slope subsurface stratigraphy and planning of geotechnical boreholes. It is a data-driven approach that enables an ensemble of prior knowledge within a training image using multiple point statistics. The proposed method not only provides evolution of the most probable interpolation from sparse measurements and the associated interpolation uncertainties, but also adaptively determines the optimal locations of boreholes. Effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated and validated through both a simulation example and a real case. It is found that the data-driven framework can automatically determine the optimal number and locations of boreholes for stability analysis of multi-layer slopes.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author