USE OF FUZZY-SETS FOR EVALUATING SHEAR-STRENGTH OF SOILS

The shear strength of soils measured in laboratory tests may be different from the in-situ values. This is due to imperfections in the laboratory measurement of soil properties. Expert opinions, based on professional. judgements and experience gained in related works, which are usually expressed linguistically, can be sought to assess the measurement biases. The theory of fuzzy sets is a useful tool for conveying this type of subjective information in a computer-usable form. A quantitative methodology which uses fuzzy set theory to represent and process expert opinions, updates the experimental results to more realistic values. A numerical illustration shows that the proposed methodology is simple to use, and produces consistent results. The methodology can be easily implemented using microcomputers to give rapid solutions.