Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-1

Back Analysis of Material Properties

This tutorial will demonstrate how to perform back analysis of material
properties using sensitivity analysis or probabilistic analysis features in
Slide. Back analysis can be used to determine material strength at slope
failure, or the required material strength to achieve a given safety factor.

Sensitivity analysis can be used for back analysis of individual variables.

Probabilistic analysis can be used for back analysis of multiple variables.

Topics covered:

• slope with known failure surface

• sensitivity analysis
• probabilistic analysis
• back analysis of material strength

The finished product of this tutorial can be found in the Tutorial 23

Back Analysis Material Properties.slim data file. All tutorial files
installed with Slide 6.0 can be accessed by selecting File > Recent Folders
> Tutorials Folder from the Slide main menu.

Note: if you are not familiar with the sensitivity or probabilistic analysis
options in Slide, it is recommended that you first review Slide tutorials 8,
9, 10 and 11.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-2

Model

Start the Slide Model program. Select File > Recent Folders > Tutorials
Folder from the Slide main menu, and open the Tutorial 23 Back
Analysis Material Properties.slim file.

You should see the following model.

For this model a slope failure is assumed to have occurred. The actual
failure surface is given by the red line shown in the above figure. The
failure surface is non-circular and passes through a weak material layer
(green material).

The material above and below the weak layer (yellow material) is
significantly stronger than the weak layer, and has the following strength
properties: cohesion = 17.5 kPa and friction angle = 30 degrees.

We will initially assign the weak layer the strength properties: cohesion
= 5 kPa and friction angle = 15 degrees. Let’s first run the analysis with
these properties to see the results.

Compute

Select the Compute option.

Select: Analysis → Compute

Since there is only a single slip surface defined the computation is

instantaneous.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-3

Interpret

To view the results of the analysis:

Select: Analysis → Interpret

This will start the Slide Interpret program. You should see the following.

For the Spencer analysis method, the safety factor of this slip surface is
0.99. This is consistent with an actual failure surface since the safety
factor is approximately 1.

We have arrived at this result using specific values of cohesion and

friction angle for both materials (strong material and weak layer).

In the remainder of this tutorial we will demonstrate how we can use

sensitivity or probabilistic analysis, to perform back analysis of material
properties assuming that one or more material strength parameters are
unknown.

Slide v.6.0 Tutorial Manual

 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-4

Sensitivity Analysis

Return to the Slide Model program.

Select Project Settings and select the Statistics option in the Project
Settings dialog. Notice that the Sensitivity Analysis option (checkbox) is
already selected.

Select OK or Cancel as we will not be making any changes right now.

Material Statistics
Now select the Materials option from the Statistics menu. You will see
the following.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-5

For this example, we have already pre-defined two variables for a

sensitivity analysis:

• Weak layer cohesion

• Weak layer friction angle

NOTE: the currently defined mean values of cohesion and friction angle
(5 kPa and 15 degrees) result in a safety factor of 0.99 for the given slip
surface. For this example, these values were already pre-determined in
advance.

Now, let’s assume that the material strength parameters of the weak
layer are NOT fully known. To begin with, let’s assume that the cohesion
is unknown, but the friction angle is known (15 degrees). How might we
determine the value of weak layer cohesion?

Using sensitivity analysis, and the fact that we have a known failure
surface (safety factor = 1), we can easily determine a value of weak layer
cohesion at failure.

Let’s first change the numbers a bit. Since we are assuming the cohesion
is unknown, if this were an actual slope, we would initially be guessing at
the range of possible values. In the Material Statistics dialog, enter a
mean value = 10 kPa, and relative min and max values = 10 kPa. This
will effectively vary the cohesion between 0 and 20 kPa for the sensitivity
analysis.

Select OK in the dialog.

Select Compute and select Interpret. You should see the following result.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-6

Interpret
Notice that the safety factor is now 1.082. This is because we changed the
mean cohesion from 5 kPa to 10 kPa.

Since the mean values of all parameters are used to calculate the
deterministic safety factor during a sensitivity or probabilistic analysis,
any change to the mean values will affect the deterministic safety factor.

Now select the Sensitivity Plot option from the Statistics menu or the
toolbar. Make sure that only the Cohesion checkbox is selected and the
friction angle checkbox is cleared as shown below.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-7

Select the Plot button and you should see the following sensitivity plot. As
you can see, cohesion has been varied between 0 and 20 kPa, and the
safety factor changes accordingly.

1.2

Factor of Safety - spencer

1.1

w eak layer : Cohesion (kN/m2)

1.0

0.9

0.8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
w eak layer : Cohesion (kN/m2)

We want to know the value of cohesion which corresponds to safety factor

= 1. We can do this as follows. Right-click on the plot and select Sample
Exact Value from the popup menu. Enter a safety factor value = 1 as
shown below and select OK.

The sensitivity plot will display the exact value of cohesion for safety
factor = 1. A value of weak layer cohesion = 5.5 kPa corresponds to safety
factor = 1. This assumes that all other slope parameters are exactly
known and equal to their mean values (i.e. for a friction angle = 15
degrees, the cohesion at failure = 5.5 kPa).

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-8

1.2

Factor of Safety - spencer

1.1

w eak layer : Cohesion (kN/m2)

5.533
1.0 1.000

0.9

0.8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
w eak layer : Cohesion (kN/m2)

Now let’s assume that the cohesion is known and the friction angle is
unknown.

Model
Return to the Slide Model program. Select Materials from the Statistics
menu and enter the following values.

Select OK in the dialog.

Select Compute and Interpret.

Interpret
Select Sensitivity Analysis Plot and plot only the friction angle.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-9

Select the Plot button and you should see the sensitivity plot with friction
angle varying between 5 and 25 degrees. Right-click on the plot and select
Sample Exact Value, enter safety factor = 1 and select OK.

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1
Factor of Safety - spencer

15.32
1.0 1.000
w eak layer : Phi (deg)

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
w eak layer : Phi (deg)

A friction angle = 15.3 degrees gives safety factor = 1. This assumes all
other parameters are equal to their mean values (i.e. cohesion = 5 kPa).

To summarize: sensitivity analysis can easily be used for back analysis of

individual variables. Just remember, when you are viewing a sensitivity
plot of an individual variable, all other analysis variables are assumed to
be constant and equal to their mean value. In general, this procedure may
require some trial and error, for example if the desired safety factor is not
within the output range of the sensitivity plot, you will have to adjust the
allowable range of values of the variable and re-run the analysis.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-10

Probabilistic Analysis

The probabilistic analysis option in Slide can be used to carry out back
analysis of two variables simultaneously. For example, determine all
possible values of cohesion AND friction angle for a specified factor of
safety.

Return to the Slide Model program and select Project Settings. Go to the
Statistics option and turn on the Probabilistic Analysis checkbox. Select
OK.

Material Statistics
Select Material Statistics from the Statistics menu. Since we are now
performing probabilistic analysis (in addition to sensitivity analysis)
notice that there are two additional inputs required for each variable:
Distribution and Standard Deviation.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-11

We will use a Uniform Distribution for both cohesion and friction angle.
Since we are assuming that BOTH cohesion and friction angle are
unknown variables, a simple Uniform distribution will ensure that
random samples are generated uniformly over the entire range of each
variable.

Note that for a Uniform distribution, the Standard Deviation is not

applicable and is therefore disabled. Make sure that the mean, min and
max values are as shown (cohesion, 5,5,5, and friction angle 15,5,5).
Select OK.

Select Compute and then Interpret.

Interpret
You should see the following results. Note that the deterministic safety
factor is still 0.99. A summary of probabilistic results is also listed (PF =
probability of failure = 53.8%, i.e. more than half of all outcomes result in
slope failure. This is as expected, since the distribution of safety factors is
approximately centered about the mean value of 1).

Now select the Scatter Plot option from the Statistics menu.

In the Scatter Plot dialog make the following selections. Plot weak layer
Cohesion versus Phi. Select the Hilight Data checkbox. Select Factor of
Safety – Spencer. Select the Range option and set a range of 0.99 to 1.01.
Select the Plot button.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-12

You should see the following Scatter plot.

Since we chose a Uniform distribution for both Cohesion and Phi, and we
did not use Correlation, you can see that samples have been uniformly
generated over the entire specified range of both variables (i.e. cohesion 0
to 10 and friction angle 10 to 20).

Notice the data points highlighted in red. These represent pairs of

cohesion and friction angle, which result in a safety factor between 0.99
and 1.01 (as we specified in the scatter plot dialog).

To view the highlighted data only, right-click on the plot and select
Hilighted Data Only from the popup menu. The plot should look as
follows.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-13

This plot shows the relationship between cohesion and friction angle for a
safety factor of approximately 1. As you can see, the relationship is linear
over the range of values plotted, for this example.

The parameters of the linear best fit line through the highlighted data,
are given at the bottom of the plot. The parameter alpha is the y-intercept
and beta is the slope of the line. In this case:

Friction angle = -0.58 cohesion + 18.2

You could use this equation to determine values of cohesion and friction
angle over this range of values. You can also do this graphically with the
sampler. If you right-click on the plot and select Snap sampler to line (x-
coord) or (y-coord), you can graphically drag the sampler along the line
with the mouse, and the coordinates (cohesion, phi) will be displayed
interactively, as shown below.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-14

Any pair of cohesion, friction angle values which fall on this line, should
give you a safety factor of about 1. For example: using the sampler we can
determine that the data pair of cohesion = 2 and friction angle = 17 falls
on this line. If you input this data as the strength of the weak layer and
re-run the analysis, you will see that the safety factor does indeed = 1.

Although the relationship is linear in this example, this will not always
necessarily be the case. Depending on the range of values, variables
plotted and the nature of your model, a scatter plot might exhibit any
type of functional relationship between two variables.

The above procedure can be used for any range of safety factor. For
example, if you wanted to find values of cohesion and friction angle
corresponding to some other value of safety factor, simply define a small
range which brackets the safety factor (e.g. 1.19 to 1.21) using the Hilight
Data option in the Scatter plot dialog.

Export to Excel
If you wish to do further processing of data using other applications, you
can easily export data to Excel. For example, right-click on the Scatter
plot and select Plot in Excel from the popup menu, and the graph and
data will automatically be exported to Excel.

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 Back Analysis of Material Properties 23-15

Back Analysis of Other Variables

In this tutorial we have only looked at back analysis of material strength

parameters, in particular, cohesion and friction angle of a Mohr-Coulomb
material.

In Slide nearly all input variables can be defined for use in a sensitivity
or probabilistic analysis. The procedures described in this tutorial could
be applied to other strength parameters and strength models (e.g. Hoek-
Brown or anisotropic materials) or to any other random input parameter
in Slide (e.g. support properties). The user is encouraged to experiment
with the options available.

Back Analysis of Multiple Variables

Back analysis procedures involving more than two variables have been
described for slope stability problems. However this is beyond the scope of
this tutorial. Future versions of Slide may implement back analysis
methods for simultaneous analysis of more than two variables.

This concludes the back analysis of material properties tutorial. You may
now exit the program.

Slide v.6.0 Tutorial Manual