Optimal reconstruction of constrained janbu method with ADP and non-integral safety factor

Notwithstanding the rich research on the slicing method, it is still impossible to accom-plish the limit equilibrium analysis of all phases before the evaluation of the safety factor. Bearing this dilemma in view, in this paper, the Janbu method is optimized and reformu-lated by introducing adaptive dynamic programming (ADP). The fractional average safety factor is no longer used; instead, a sequence of safety factors is used. The critical slip state is chosen as the equilibrium point, the nonlinearity of safety coefficients of adjacent blocks is approximated by the neural network, and the remaining variables and constraints of the system are added to assist in transforming the original redundant safety coefficient evaluation-finding optimal solution problem into a Janbu-qualified cost function. The ac-tion network and critic network of ADP accomplish the boundary trajectory solving and safety evaluation, respectively. The validity of the method is verified when the optimized and reorganized framework is applied to solve the critical slip surface of a clay slope.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this paper, the Janbu method is optimized and reformulated by introducing adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) to solve the issue of not being able to accomplish the limit equilibrium analysis of all phases before the evaluation of the safety factor. The validity of the method is verified when the optimized and reorganized framework is applied to solve the critical slip surface of a clay slope.