a Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
b Whitby Bird Partnership, 60 Newman Street, London W1T 3DA, UK
Abstract:
A simple genetic algorithm (SGA) is applied to the search for the minimum factor of safety in slope stability analysis. The method is shown to be superior to simple optimisation routines, which can find false minima, and to ‘brute force’ approaches, which require the analysis of a very large number of possibilities. An approach to implementing SGA is defined and refined, indicating principles which may be used in applying the method to other engineering problems.