Prediction of the long-term deformation of high rockfill geostructures using a hybrid back-analysis method

It is important to make reasonable prediction about the long -term deformation of high rockfill geostructures. However, the deformation is usually underestimated using the rockfill parameters obtained from laboratory tests due to different size effects, which make it necessary to identify parameters from in-situ monitoring data. This paper proposes a novel hybrid back -analysis method with a modified objective function defined for the time-dependent back -analysis problem. The method consists of two stages. In the first stage, an improved weighted average method is proposed to quickly narrow the search region; while in the second stage, an adaptive response surface method is proposed to iteratively search for the satisfactory solution, with a technique that can adaptively consider the translation, contraction or expansion of the exploration region. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed hybrid back -analysis method is demonstrated by back-analyzing the long -term deformation of two high embankments constructed for airport runways, with the rockfills being modeled by a rheological model considering the influence of stress states on the creep behavior.