Discretization error in the random finite element method for spatially variable undrained shear strength

This study decomposes the discretization error in the random finite element method into finite element and random field discretization errors. Two numerical problems are considered: a soil column and a retaining wall with spatially variable undrained shear strength. It is observed that these two errors tend to accumulate if the spatial averaging (SA) method is adopted for discretization, whereas the two errors may not accumulate if the midpoint (MP) method is adopted. Therefore, MP may outperform SA. Suggestions for mesh sizes are provided, but these suggestions may be restricted to these two numerical problems.