Assessment the stability of earth dams based on construction pace by fuzzy inference logic

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the earth dam stability fuzzy model based on the pace of construction via influential parameters, including the dam construction time (embankment consolidation time) in the stability analysis of earth dams. A fuzzy inference system based on the Sugeno inference engine was developed, and 620 IF-THEN rules in PLAXIS (Plane Strain and AXIal Symmetry). were used to train the fuzzy system. The input parameters included the dam height, crest width, dam slope, cohesion, friction angle, elasticity modulus, Poisson's ratio, unsaturated unit weight, consolidation (construction) time, and permeability coefficient, with the Factor of Safety (FoS) output. To develop the fuzzy inference system, a triangular membership function (MF) was employed, calculating the influential parameters over five periods in MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory) software. The fuzzy model results were compared to the results of numerical PLAXIS and FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) models. The coefficient of determination (R2) was found to be 0.9824 for the PLAXIS and fuzzy model analyses and 0.9753 for the FLAC and fuzzy model analyses. This suggests good agreement between the fuzzy and numerical models, and it can be assumed that the proposed fuzzy model is efficient and effective for the stability analysis, and hence assessment of factors of safety, of earth dams.