Use of the order statistics when predicting pile foundation failure probability

Abstract

The study of pile foundation reliability and safety is based on the analysis of the probabilistic moments, average and coefficient of variation that are associated with the resistant surface. This surface imposes the condition that there is a finite population represented by the isolated elements of the foundation. This work presents an analysis of a statistical adjustment of the sample when estimating the population’s parameters and using the order statistic concepts. The resistance values and the analyzed foundations that were solicited were based on data published in the technical literature in which the resistance variable was measured from load tests. The number of tests in situ concludes, specifically that, for the diversity of the analyzed foundations, the order statistic can be a sufficiently useful tool to estimate the failure probability of pile foundations in cases in which the number of load tests are smaller.

Keywords

• order statistic
• reliability
• pile foundation