Bayesian machine learning-based method for prediction of slope failure time

The data-driven phenomenological models based on deformation measurements have been widely utilized to predict the slope failure time (SFT). The observational and model uncertainties could lead the predicted SFT calculated from the phenomenological models to deviate from the actual SFT. Currently, very limited study has been conducted on how to evaluate the effect of such uncertainties on SFT prediction. In this paper, a comprehensive slope failure database was compiled. A Bayesian machine learning (BML)-based method was developed to learn the model and observational uncertainties involved in SFT prediction, through which the probabilistic distribution of the SFT can be obtained. This method was illustrated in detail with an example. Verification studies show that the BML-based method is superior to the traditional inverse velocity method (INVM) and the maximum likelihood method for predicting SFT. The proposed method in this study provides an effective tool for SFT prediction.