Review of Applicable Outlier Detection Methods to Treat Geomechanical Data

Abstract

The reliability of geomechanical models and engineering designs depend heavily on high-quality data. In geomechanical projects, collecting and analyzing laboratory data is crucial in characterizing the mechanical properties of soils and rocks. However, insufficient lab data or underestimating data treatment can lead to unreliable data being used in the design stage, causing safety hazards, delays, or failures. Hence, detecting outliers or extreme values is significant for ensuring accurate geomechanical analysis. This study reviews and categorizes applicable outlier detection methods for geomechanical data into fence labeling methods and statistical tests. Using real geomechanical data, the applicability of these methods was examined based on four elements: data distribution, sensitivity to extreme values, sample size, and data skewness. The results indicated that statistical tests were less effective than fence labeling methods in detecting outliers in geomechanical data due to limitations in handling skewed data and small sample sizes. Thus, the best outlier detection method should consider this matter. Fence labeling methods, specifically, the medcouple boxplot and semi-interquartile range rule, were identified as the most accurate outlier detection methods for geomechanical data but may necessitate more advanced statistical techniques. Moreover, Tukey’s boxplot was found unsuitable for geomechanical data due to negative confidence intervals that conflicted with geomechanical principles.