Automated model and parameter selection: Incorporating Expert Input into Geotechnical Analyses

Numerical analysis has major advantages over traditional methods regarding the level of detail and insight that can be obtained in geotechnical stability analysis, limit-state design, and soil-structure interaction problems. A key success factor in numerical analysis is an appropriate determination of constitutive model parameters based on the available, and too often limited, soil data, and on engineering judgement. Prediction competitions demonstrate a large variety of results when different engineers solve the same problem. This gives rise to the question of whether automated parameter determination could narrow the range of results and increase confidence in using and accepting the results from numerical analysis for geotechnical design.