Elastic solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space subjected to three‐dimensional buried parabolic rectangular loads

In many areas of engineering practice, applied loads are not uniformly distributed but often concentrated towards the centre of a foundation. Thus, loads are more realistically depicted as distributed as linearly varying or as parabola of revolution. Solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space caused by concave and convex parabolic loads that act on a rectangle have not been derived. This work proposes analytical solutions for stresses in a transversely isotropic half‐space, induced by three‐dimensional, buried, linearly varying/uniform/parabolic rectangular loads. Load types include an upwardly and a downwardly linearly varying load, a uniform load, a concave and a convex parabolic load, all distributed over a rectangular area. These solutions are obtained by integrating the point load solutions in a Cartesian co‐ordinate system for a transversely isotropic half‐space. The buried depth, the dimensions of the loaded area, the type and degree of material anisotropy and the loading type for transversely isotropic half‐spaces influence the proposed solutions. An illustrative example is presented to elucidate the effect of the dimensions of the loaded area, the type and degree of rock anisotropy, and the type of loading on the vertical stress in the isotropic/transversely isotropic rocks subjected to a linearly varying/uniform/parabolic rectangular load. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐phase model for unsaturated soils

A comprehensive framework to define the constitutive behaviour of unsaturated soils is developed within the theory of mixtures applied to three‐phase porous media. Each of the three phases is endowed with its own strain and stress. Elastic and elastic–plastic constitutive equations are developed. Particular emphasis is laid on the interactions between the phases both in the elastic and plastic regimes. Nevertheless, the clear structure of the constitutive equations requires a minimal number of material parameters. Their identification is provided: in particular, it incorporates directly the soil–water characteristic curve. Crucial to the formulation is an appropriate definition of the effective stress. The coupled influence of this effective stress and of suction makes it possible to describe qualitatively many of the characteristic features observed in experiments, e.g. for normally consolidated soils, a plastic behaviour up to air entry followed by an elastic behaviour at increasing suctions, and, on the way back, an elastic behaviour, unless compression is applied in which case plastic collapse occurs. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stable meshfree method for fully coupled flow-deformation analysis of saturated porous media

A fully coupled meshfree algorithm is proposed for numerical analysis of Biot’s formulation. Spatial discretization of the governing equations is presented using the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM). Temporal discretization is achieved based on a novel three-point approximation technique with a variable time step, which has second order accuracy and avoids spurious ripple effects observed in the conventional two-point Crank Nicolson technique. Application of the model is demonstrated using several numerical examples with analytical or semi-analytical solutions. It is shown that the model proposed is effective in simulating the coupled flow deformation behaviour in fluid saturated porous media with good accuracy and stability irrespective of the magnitude of the time step adopted.     

A reconstruction method for three‐dimensional pore space using multiple‐point geology statistic based on statistical pattern recognition and microstructure characterization

To predict the macroscopic properties (e.g., transport, electromagnetic, and mechanical properties) of porous media, it is necessary to have a three‐dimensional (3D) representation of porous media. We reconstruct the geologically realistic 3D structure of Fontainebleau sandstone based on the two‐dimensional (2D) thin sections by using the multiple‐point statistics method. For this method, the size of template is an important parameter that reflects the perceived scale of spatial structure of porous media. In this paper, we take advantage of entropy method to obtain the appropriate size of the template, which is proven to be correct and feasible. The reconstruction method proposed by us combines successive 2D MPS simulations as well as 3D MPS simulation, which takes account into the pore structure information (e.g., heterogeneity and connectivity) both intralayer and interlayer. This reconstruction method is tested on Fontainebleau sandstone for which 3D images from micro‐CT scanning are available. Applying local percolation theory analysis, this new approach can depict the expected patterns of geological heterogeneities. In addition, it also can well reproduce a high degree of connectivity of the pore space better than other reconstruction methods based on lower‐order statistics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐phase thermo‐hydro‐mechanical finite element model for freezing soils

Artificial ground freezing (AGF) is a commonly used technique in geotechnical engineering for ground improvement such as ground water control and temporary excavation support during tunnel construction in soft soils. The main potential problem connected with this technique is that it may produce heave and settlement at the ground surface, which may cause damage to the surface infrastructure. Additionally, the freezing process and the energy needed to obtain a stable frozen ground may be significantly influenced by seepage flow. Evidently, safe design and execution of AGF require a reliable prediction of the coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechanical behavior of freezing soils. With the theory of poromechanics, a three‐phase finite element soil model is proposed, considering solid particles, liquid water, and crystal ice as separate phases and mixture temperature, liquid pressure, and solid displacement as the primary field variables. In addition to the volume expansion of water transforming into ice, the contribution of the micro‐cryo‐suction mechanism to the frost heave phenomenon is described in the model using the theory of premelting dynamics. Through fundamental physical laws and corresponding state relations, the model captures various couplings among the phase transition, the liquid transport within the pore space, and the accompanying mechanical deformation. The verification and validation of the model are accomplished by means of selected analyses. An application example is related to AGF during tunnel excavation, investigating the influence of seepage flow on the freezing process and the time required to establish a closed supporting frozen arch. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非线性抛物型方程反问题的一种新算法

利用反问题新算法—时间域正演反演法研究非线性抛物型方程的逆时反问题。该方法处理反问题的主要思路是先求解相对应的正问题,获得解在特定时间网格处的近似值;然后构造一个合适的全纯映射,在象空间中获得解在时间网格对应点处的近似值;最后利用解析函数的唯一延拓性质实现反问题的逆时间反演。数值模拟例子说明了方法的有效性。     

Hybrid FE‐DQ for dynamic analysis of multilayered half‐space subjected to concentrated point impulsive loading

A hybrid finite element method and differential quadrature method (DQM) is developed to estimate the dynamic response of two‐dimensional multilayered half‐spaces subjected to impulsive point loading. Nonreflecting absorbing boundary conditions consist of appropriate springs, and dampers are considered. The capabilities of the finite element method for solving boundary value problems with general domain, loading and systematic boundary treatment are combined with accurate and stable time marching capabilities of the DQM to develop an accurate and efficient numerical technique. The capability, efficiency, robustness and convergence of the DQM for solving the dynamic problem are demonstrated through numerical simulations of various half‐spaces with different time increments and layer arrangement. Also, comparison study when using Newmark's time integration scheme for the same problem is done. It can be concluded that the DQM as an unconditionally stable method is suitable for solving such a problem. Also, parametric study is performed to show the effect of the absorbing boundary conditions on the dynamic response. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stepwise damping‐solvent extraction method for large‐scale dynamic soil–structure interaction analysis in time domain

Time‐domain analysis of dynamic soil–structure interaction based on the substructure method plays an increasing role in practical applications as compared with the frequency‐domain analysis. Efficient and accurate modelling of the unbounded soil or rock medium has been a key issue in such an analysis. This paper presents a subregional stepwise damping‐solvent extraction formulation for solving large‐scale dynamic soil–structure problems in the time domain. Accuracy and efficiency of the formulation are evaluated in detail for a classical problem involving a rigid strip foundation embedded in a half‐space. A practical large‐scale soil–structure interaction problem, which represents a high concrete gravity dam subjected to seismic load, is then analysed using the proposed method. Various responses of the dam, including time histories of the crest displacement and acceleration and contours of the peak principal stresses within the dam body, are presented. Comparisons are also made between these results with those obtained using other models for the unbounded medium. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional time‐harmonic fundamental solutions for a fluid‐saturated poroelastic half‐space with partially permeable free surface

By virtue of a pair of scalar potentials for the displacement of the solid skeleton and the pore fluid pressure field of a saturated poroelastic medium, an alternative solution method to the Helmholtz decomposition is developed for the wave propagation problems in the framework of Biot's theory. As an application, a comprehensive solution for three‐dimensional response of an isotropic poroelastic half‐space with a partially permeable hydraulic free surface under an arbitrarily distributed time‐harmonic internal force field and fluid sources is developed. The Green's functions for the poroelastic fields, corresponding to point, ring, and disk loads, are reduced to semi‐infinite complex‐valued integrals that can be evaluated numerically by an appropriate quadrature scheme. Analytical and numerical comparisons are made with existing elastic and poroelastic solutions to illustrate the quality and features of the solution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effective block diagonal preconditioners for Biot's consolidation equations in piled‐raft foundations

The finite element (FE) simulation of large‐scale soil–structure interaction problems (e.g. piled‐raft, tunnelling, and excavation) typically involves structural and geomaterials with significant differences in stiffness and permeability. The symmetric quasi‐minimal residual solver coupled with recently developed generalized Jacobi, modified symmetric successive over‐relaxation (MSSOR), or standard incomplete LU factorization (ILU) preconditioners can be ineffective for this class of problems. Inexact block diagonal preconditioners that are inexpensive approximations of the theoretical form are systematically evaluated for mitigating the coupled adverse effects because of such heterogeneous material properties (stiffness and permeability) and because of the percentage of the structural component in the system in piled‐raft foundations. Such mitigation led the proposed preconditioners to offer a significant saving in runtime (up to more than 10 times faster) in comparison with generalized Jacobi, modified symmetric successive over‐relaxation, and ILU preconditioners in simulating piled‐raft foundations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐dimensional displacement approach for analysis of laterally loaded piles in nonhomogeneous soil

An analytical approach using the three‐dimensional displacement of a soil is investigated to provide analytical solutions of the horizontal response of a circular pile subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soil. The rocking stiffness coefficient of the pile shaft in homogeneous soil is derived from the analytical solution taking into account the three‐dimensional displacement represented in terms of scalar potentials in the elastic three‐dimensional analysis. The lateral stiffness coefficient of the pile shaft in nonhomogeneous soil is derived from the rocking stiffness coefficient taking into account the rocking rotation of a rigid pile shaft. The relationship between horizontal displacement, rotation, moment, and shear force of a pile subjected to horizontal loads in nonhomogeneous soil is obtainable in the form of the recurrence equation. The formulation of the lateral displacement and rotation of the pile base subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soils is presented by taking into account Mindlin's equation and the equivalent thickness for soil layers in the equivalent elastic method. There is little difference between lateral, rocking, and couple stiffness coefficients each obtained from both the two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional methods except for the case of Poisson's ratio near 0.5. The comparison of results calculated by the current method for a pile subjected to lateral loads in homogeneous and nonhomogeneous soils has shown good agreement with those obtained from analytical and numerical methods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scaling improves stability of preconditioned CG‐like solvers for FE consolidation equations

Preconditioned projection (or conjugate gradient like) methods are increasingly used for the accurate and efficient solution to finite element (FE) coupled consolidation equations. Theory indicates that preliminary row/column scaling does not affect the eigenspectrum of the iteration matrix controlling convergence as long as the preconditioner relies on the incomplete factorization of the FE coefficient matrix. However, computational experience with mid‐large size problems shows that the above inexpensive operation can significantly accelerate the solver convergence, and to a minor extent also improve the final accuracy, as a result of a better solver stability to the accumulation and propagation of floating point round‐off errors. This is demonstrated with the aid of the least square logarithm (LSL) scaling algorithm on FE consolidation problems of increasing size up to more than 100 000. It is shown that a major source of numerical instability rests with the sub‐matrix which couples the structural to the fluid part of the underlying mathematical model. It is concluded that for mid‐large size, possibly difficult, FE consolidation problems left/right LSL scaling is to be always recommended when the incomplete factorization is used as a preconditioning technique. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐phase soil model for simulating stress wave propagation due to blast loading

A three‐phase soil model is proposed to simulate stress wave propagation in soil mass to blast loading. The soil is modelled as a three‐phase mass that includes the solid particles, water and air. It is considered as a structure that the solid particles form a skeleton and their voids are filled with water and air. The equation of state (EOS) of the soil is derived. The elastic–plastic theory is adopted to model the constitutive relation of the soil skeleton. The damage of the soil skeleton is also modelled. The Drucker–Prager strength model including the strain rate effect is used to describe the strength of the soil skeleton. The model is implemented into a hydrocode Autodyn. The recorded results obtained by explosion tests in soil are used to validate the proposed model. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐dimensional staggered finite element approach for random parametric modeling of thermo‐hygral coupled phenomena in porous media

The aim of this paper is to present a three‐dimensional (3D) finite element modeling of heat and mass transfer phenomena in partially saturated open porous media with random fields of material properties. Randomness leads to transfer processes within the porous medium that naturally need a full 3D modeling for any quantitative assessment of these processes. Nevertheless, the counterpart of 3D modeling is a significant increase in computations cost. Therefore, a staggered solution strategy is adopted which permits to solve the equations sequentially. This appropriate partitioning reduces the size of the discretized problem to be solved at each time step. It is based on a specific iterative algorithm to account for the interaction between all the transfer processes. Accordingly, a suitable linearization of mass convective boundary conditions, consistent with the staggered algorithm, is also derived. After some validation tests, the 3D numerical model is used for studying the drying process of a cementitious material with regard to its intrinsic permeability randomness. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stability criterion for elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive relationships

In this paper, the onset of mechanical instability in time‐sensitive elasto‐viscoplastic solids is theoretically analyzed at the constitutive level and associated with the occurrence of ‘spontaneous accelerations’ under stationary external perturbations. For this purpose, a second‐order form of Perzyna's constitutive equations is first derived by time differentiation, and a sufficient stability condition is identified for general mixed loading programs. These loading conditions are in fact the most general in both laboratory tests and real boundary value problems, where a combination of certain stress and strain components is known/prescribed. The theoretical analysis leads to find precise stability limits in terms of material hardening modulus. In the case of constitutive relationships with isotropic strain‐hardening, no instabilities are possible while the hardening modulus is larger than the so‐called ‘controllability modulus’ defined for (inviscid) elasto‐plastic materials. It is also shown that the current stress/strain rate may also directly influence the occurrence of elasto‐viscoplastic instability, which is at variance with elasto‐plastic inviscid media. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A high‐resolution relative time scale for the Viséan Stage (Carboniferous) of the Kulm Basin (Rhenish Mountains,Germany)

The Viséan (Carboniferous) sedimentary succession of the basinal Kulm facies (Rhenish Mountains) was investigated in detail in order to achieve a high‐resolution stratigraphic subdivision and correlation. Additionally, the ranges of fossil index taxa (ammonoids), fossil marker beds, volcaniclastic horizons and sedimentary features (e.g. colour changes) were integrated in the correlation. As a result, a comprehensive database was compiled, which contains 190 stratigraphic events of the Viséan interval of this area. Several sections are almost completely composed of shales, which are regarded to represent a slow but constant basinal background sedimentation of the Kulm facies. The thickness of lithological homogeneous sections thus indicates an approximately linear record of time and the average thicknesses of biozones and positions of stratigraphic events can easily be calculated from the compiled database. The result is an approximately time‐linear biostratigraphic scale for the Viséan Stage of the Kulm Basin. Given a numerical length of the Viséan Stage of ca. 19 Ma, 190 stratigraphic events give a mean resolution of 100 000 years. This is unique in Palaeozoic stratigraphy. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐dimensional integral equation model for calculating poro‐ and thermoelastic stresses induced by cold water injection into a geothermal reservoir

Poro‐mechanical and thermo‐mechanical processes change the fracture aperture and thus affect the water flow pattern in the fracture during the cold water injection into enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). In addition, the stresses generated by these processes contribute to the phenomenon of reservoir seismicity. In this paper, we present a three‐dimensional (3D) partially coupled poro‐thermoelastic model to investigate the poroelastic and thermoelastic effects of cold water injection in EGS. In the model, the lubrication fluid flow and the convective heat transfer in the fracture are modeled by the finite element method, while the pore fluid diffusion and heat conductive transfer in the reservoir matrix are assumed to be 3D and modeled by the boundary integral equation method without the need to discretize the reservoir. The stresses at the fracture surface and in the reservoir matrix are obtained from the numerical model and can be used to assess the variation of in situ stress and induced seismicty with injection/extraction. Application of the model shows that rock cooling induces large tensile stresses and increases fracture conductivity, whereas the rock dilation caused by fluid leakoff decreases fracture aperture and increases compressive total stresses around the injection zone. However, increases in pore pressure reduce the effective stresses and can contribute to rock failure, fracture slip, and microseismic activity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A semi‐analytical modeling approach for three‐dimensional heat transfer in sparsely fractured rocks with water flow and distributed heat source

A semi‐analytical approach is developed for modeling 3D heat transfer in sparsely fractured rocks with prescribed water flow and heat source. The governing differential equations are formulated, and the corresponding integral equations over the fracture faces and the distributed heat source are established in the Laplace transformed domain using the Green function method with local systems of coordinates. The algebraic equations of the Laplace transformed temperatures of water in the fractures are formed by dividing the integrals into elemental ones; in particular, the fracture faces are discretized into rectangular elements, over which the integrations are carried out either analytically for singular integrals when the base point is involved or numerically for regular integrals when otherwise. The solutions of the algebraic equations are inverted numerically to obtain the real‐time temperatures of water in the fractures, which may be employed to calculate the temperatures at prescribed locations of the rock matrix. Three example calculations are presented to illustrate the workability of the developed approach. The calculations found that water flux in the fractures may decrease the rate of temperature rise in regions close to the distributed heat source and increase the rate of temperature rise in regions downstream away from the distributed heat source and that the temperature distribution and evolvement in a sparsely fractured rock mass may be significantly influenced by water flow exchange at intersection of fractures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical solution for consolidation and desiccation of soft soils

The consolidation and desiccation behaviour of soft soils can be described by two time‐dependent non‐linear partial differential equations using the finite strain theory. Analytical solutions do not exist for these governing equations. In this paper, we develop efficient numerical methods and software for finding the numerical solutions. We introduce a semi‐implicit time integration scheme, and show numerically that our method converges. In addition, the numerical solution matches well with the experimental result. A boundary refinement method is also developed to improve the convergence and stability for the case of Neumann type boundary conditions. Interface governing equations are derived to maintain the continuity of consolidation and desiccation processes. This is useful because the soil column can undergo desiccation on top and consolidation on the bottom simultaneously. The numerical algorithms has been implemented into a computer program and the results have been verified with centrifuge test results conducted in our laboratory. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modified Jacobi preconditioner for solving ill‐conditioned Biot's consolidation equations using symmetric quasi‐minimal residual method

This paper identifies imbalanced columns (or rows) as a significant source of ill‐conditioning in the preconditioned coefficient matrix using the standard Jacobi preconditioner, for finite element solution of Biot's consolidation equations. A simple and heuristic preconditioner is proposed to reduce this source of ill‐conditioning. The proposed preconditioner modifies the standard Jacobi preconditioner by scaling the excess pore pressure degree‐of‐freedoms in the standard Jacobi preconditioner with appropriate factors. The performance of such preconditioner is examined using the symmetric quasi‐minimal residual method. To alleviate storage requirements, element‐by‐element iterative strategies are implemented. Numerical experiment results show that the proposed preconditioner reduces both the number of iteration and CPU execution time significantly as compared with the standard Jacobi preconditioner. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.