Probabilistic Characterization of Sand Effective Friction Angles Using Cone Penetration Tests

Interest in reliability-based design (RBD) of foundations and probabilistic analyses of geotechnical engineering (e.g., probabilistic slope stability analysis) are emerging strongly in recent years. Several RBD design codes have been developed and implemented in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. As probability theory is used in these RBD codes or probabilistic analyses to deal rationally with geotechnical-related uncertainties, their applications in turn call for improvement in probabilistic characterization of geotechnical properties. This proposed research aims to develop a Bayesian-based probabilistic approach to characterize effective friction angles of sand using Cone Penetration Tests (CPT) and to quantify their associated uncertainties and uncertainty propagation on a consistent and rational basis. Equations will be derived for the Bayesian approach, and the approach developed will be illustrated and verified against data and observations from a National Geotechnical Experimental Site in the United States.