Factors of Safety & Reliability in Geotechnical Engineering - 1999 Buchanan Lecture by J.M. Duncan

The Spencer J. Buchanan Lecture Series on the GeoChannel is presented by the Geo-Institute of ASCE. For more information about the Geo-Institute: www.asce.org/ge...
The Seventh Spencer J. Buchanan Lecture in the Department of Civil Engineering at TexasA&M University was given by Professor J. Michael Duncan on 5 November 1999.
"Factors of Safety and Reliability in Geotechnical Engineering"
Abstract:
Simple reliability analyses, involving neither complex theory nor unfamiliar terms, can be used in routine geotechnical engineering practice. These simple reliability analyses require little effort beyond that involved in conventional geotechnical analyses. They provide a means of evaluating the combined effects of uncertainties in the parameters involved in the calculations, and offer a useful supplement to conventional analyses. The additional parameters needed for the reliability analyses - standard deviations of the parameters - can be evaluated using the same amount of data and types of correlations that are widely used in geotechnical engineering practice. Example applications to stability and settlement problems illustrate the simplicity and practical usefulness of the method.
About J. Michael Duncan:
Professor J. Michael Duncan received his BSCE, and MSCE from Georgia Tech and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1965. At that time he joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley where he became Professor of Civil Engineering in 1973. In 1984, he moved to Virginia Tech where he is now University Distinguished Professor. He has authored more than 200 publications and several major computer programs on settlement, slope stability, shallow foundations, deep foundations, retaining walls, and dams. He has also been a consultant on large projects in the USA, South America, Europe, The Middle East, Japan and New Zealand. A member of the National Academy of Engineering since 1985, he is also an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and has received many awards including four teaching excellence awards at Virginia Tech, three outstanding faculty awards atthe University of California at Berkeley, the Collingwood Prize, the Huber Research Prize, the Middlebrooks Award, the Wellington Prize, the Casagrande Lecture, the Bjerrum Lecture, and the Terzaghi Lecture.
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