modeling uncertainties in soil properties by random finite element method

the finite element method offers great potential for implementing uncertainties in properties of materials such as soil.in many cases, soil parameters should be considered as random variables or random fields. this paper discusses the random finite element method in predicting the variation of the elastic settlement due to the uncertainties of the elastic modulus. the geometry and the poisson’s ratio are considered as invariable parameters. the correlation length for the 30×60 m field is considered 30 m in order to have a conservative estimation of the elastic modulus variation. the numbe of 400000 realizations of the random field are generated. by generating and analyzing multiple realizations, the statistics and the density function of the maximum settlement is estimated. the reliability of the foundation according to limit state failure, in the form of excessive settlements is estimated.