Instructor

MD. Vaughan Griffiths, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE
Mr. Griffiths completed his Masters degree at UC Berkeley and his Doctoral degrees at the University of Manchester, UK. He is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where his primary research interests lie in the development of numerical methods, and particularly in the application of finite element method to geotechnical analysis. He was previously on the faculty in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Manchester and has spent time also at Princeton University, the University of Sydney, Australia and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is the co-author of two textbooks, "Programming the Finite Element Method", 4th edition, Wiley (2004),and "Numerical Methods for Engineers", 2nd edition, Chapman & Hall/CRC (2006) and gives regular short-courses for the ASCE on "Finite Elements in Geotechnical Engineering". Dr.Griffiths is a Past President of the Colorado Section of ASCE and is currently a Region 7 Governor.

Gordon Fenton, Ph.D., Eng., M.ASCE
Mr. Fenton completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University, in 1990 and joined the faculty of Dalhousie University in 1990. He is currently the North American Managing Editor for the international journal Georisk, past chair of the ASCE Geo-Institute Risk Assessment and Management Committee, and past acting chair and current core member of the ISSMGE Engineering Practice of Risk Assessment and Management Committee. He is also currently a member of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code CSA A271-6 (Foundations) Committee and is responsible for their reliability-based design code recommendations. For his research efforts, Dr.Fenton was awarded the George Stephenson Medal (jointly with Dr.Griffiths) from the Institution of Civil Engineers, UK, in 1994, and the Gzowski Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1986.

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Course Description

Soils and rocks are among the most variable of all engineering materials and are therefore highly amenable to a probabilistic treatment.The application of statistical and probabilistic concepts to geotechnical analysis is a rapidly growing area of interest for engineers as indicated by recent new books,journals and dedicated sessions at practice-oriented conferences. The course content and delivery will assume no more than an introductory understanding of probability and statistics on the part of the participants; however, the goal is to present a “user friendly” training on modern probabilistic techniques applied to classical geotechnical engineering problems such as seepage, settlement, bearing capacity and slope stability.

The course will include:

• Discussion of potential benefits of probabilistic approaches as opposed to the classical “Factor of Safety”methods
• Review of sources of uncertainty in geotechnical analysis
• Review of some simple statistical theories needed to develop the methodologies and how to interpret the results of probabilistic analyses.
• Theory behind current geotechnical Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) implementations, how LRFD differs from traditional design, and future directions in geotechnical LRFD
• Examples of established probabilistic methods of analysis in geotechnical engineering, such as the First Order Second Moment (FOSM) method, Point Estimate Method (PEM), and First Order Reliability Method (FORM)
• Introduction to numerical methods of probabilistic analysis based on the finite element method, such as the Stochastic Finite Element Method (SFEM) and the Random Finite Element Method (RFEM)

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Seminar Benefits

• Understand the rationale for probabilistic geotechnical analysis
• Gain exposure to some methodologies for probabilistic geotechnical analysis
• Obtain introduction to some software for probabilistic geotechnical analysis
• Gain a better understanding of LRFD methods in geotechnical design and their relationship to probabilistic methods
• Understand the relationship between the Factor of Safety and the Probability of Failure (or Reliability Index)

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Who Should Attend

This course is aimed at practitioners of geotechnical engineering who wish to keep abreast of developments in reliability-based design methodologies.

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Summary Outline

Day One

• Introduction to Risk in Geotechnics
• Basic Probability Theory
• Introduction to Random Variables
• Definitions and Use of Random Variables
• Reliability-Based Geotechnical Design
• Reliability Assessment and LRFD Theory
• Modeling Spatially Random Soil Properties
• Estimation of Soil Statistics
• Basics of Simulation
  

Day Two

• Simple Tools for Probabilistic Analysis (FOSM)
• More Advanced Tools for Probabilistic Analysis (FORM)
• Advanced Tools for Probabilistic Analysis (RFEM)
• Advanced Estimation Methods
• Risk-Based Decision Making
• Summary

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