An improved differential evolution algorithm for the slope stability analysis

It is an important and challenging aspect of geotechnical engineering to evaluate the stability of slopes in soil. To determine the dangerous slip surface having the minimum factor of safety is mandatory in using the limit equilibrium method for the stability analysis. The original differential evolution algorithm is tested to locate the dangerous slip surface. The improvement of the mutation coefficient on the original differential evolution algorithm aims to enhance the search efficiency. One slope reported in the Zolfaghari´s literatures is employed to demonstrate the validity of the improvement. The dangerous slip surface obtained by this paper is compared with that provided by Zolfaghari. It has been demonstrated that the slip surface obtained this paper approaches more close to the soft layer than that of Zolfaghari.