Reliability analysis of piles constructed on slopes under laterally loading

Response surface method is used to study the reliability analysis of laterally loaded piles in sloping ground. A development load-displacement (p-y) curve for laterally loaded pile response in sloping ground is used to model the pile-soil system, both the pile head displacement and the maximum bending moment of the piles are used as the performance criteria in this study. The reliability analysis method of the laterally loaded pile in sloping ground under the pile head displacement and the maximum bending moment failure modes is proposed, which is in good agreement with the Monte Carlo method. The influences on the probability index of failure by a number of parameters are discussed. It is shown that the variability of pile head displacement increases with the increase in the coefficients of variation of ultimate bearing capacity factor (N-pu), secant elastic modulus at 50% (E-50) and level load (H). A negative correlation between N-pu and non-dimensional factor (lambda) leads to less spread out probability density function (PDF) of the pile head displacement; in contrast, a positive correlation between N-pu and lambda gives a great variation in the PDF of pile head displacement. As for bearing capacity factor on ground surface (N-po) and lambda, both negative and positive correlations between them give a great variation in the PDF of pile head displacement, and a negative correlation will obviously increase the variability of the response.