Performance of Variable Partial Factor approach in a slope design

Abstract

Most of the design codes have moved from traditional total factor of safety method to the partial factor approach, aiming to cover the uncertainties better. The target has been to reach more consistent safety levels, but it has not always obtained. This has raised more interest towards reliability based design and its applications. In this paper, the performance of two partial factor approaches were compared from the reliability point of view

eurocode 7 design approach 3 and proposed Variable Partial Factor approach. The results show that the partial factor method with fixed partial factors cannot fully cover the uncertainties related to the design. The partial factors should be dependent on the level of uncertainty of the parameters. The results also shows that RBD can be applied in designer friendly way. In addition, some challenges in the determination of the characteristic values were pointed out.