Efficient Monte Carlo technique for locating critical slip surface

The search for the critical slip surface in slope-stability analysis is performed by means of a minimization of the safety factor. The procedures most widely used are deterministic methods of nonlinear programming, and random search methods have been neglected, since they are considered to be generally less efficient. In this paper, an efficient Monte-Carlo method for locating the critical slip surface is presented. The procedure is articulated in a sequence of stages, where each new slip surface is randomly generated by an appropriate technique. From a comparative analysis, the proposed method provides solutions of the same quality as the best nonlinear programming methods. However, the structure of the presented method is very simple, and it can be more easily programmed, integrated, and modified for particular exigencies.