Geotechnical parameter identification of no-tension elastic–plastic model using extended Kalman filter

Abstract

In this study, a probabilistic procedure is presented for determination of the mechanical parameters of rock mass around a tunnel accounting for measurement uncertainties. The formulation of the inverse problem allows the incorporation of both the field measurements and prior information. In the method, a non-linear finite element (FE) method for analysing the direct problems of tunnelling in a jointed rock mass with no-tension elastic–plastic behaviour is coupled with the extended Kalman filter (EKF) to modify the geotechnical parameters in a statistical context. The validity of the back-analysis system was demonstrated through a synthetic example of a deep tunnel in a yielding rock mass. The results show the fast convergence and the great potential of the proposed procedure.