Determination of Penetration Parameters of a Bank or Dam Foundation with Sensitivity Analyzing Method

There appears to be random to design the penetration parameters for a bank or dam foundation. To solve this problem, this paper introduces a sensitivity analyzing method to calculate the penetration parameter's sensitivity factor of each part in the calculation model. The application of the method in Yanshan reservoir indicates that the covering layer's penetration parameter's sensitivity factor (> 10^-2) is the biggest, whose design parameter should then be the biggest of the testing values. The sensitivity factors (10^-6-10^-3) of other parts are relatively small, whose design parameters can then be the mean values. As for the anti-penetration objects, if dense enough, the decrease of the penetration parameters will be insignificant.