An artificial boundary approach for unbounded transient seepage problems

A new artificial boundary approach for transient seepage problems in unbounded domain is presented. The artificial boundary condition at the truncated boundary is derived from the analytical solutions for transient seepage problems in one dimension, including solutions, respectively, for flow in one‐dimensional infinite space and for radial flow in an infinite layer, and then it is tentatively applied for some two dimensional problems in addition to the one‐dimensional problems mentioned above. The boundary conditions derived relate the time‐dependent boundary flux with the time derivative of the hydraulic head at the truncated boundary, which makes the implementation much easier compared with the infinite element method. The accuracy and efficiency of the artificial boundary are validated by several numerical examples, which shows that the proposed boundary can give very good results for one‐dimensional transient seepage problems, as expected, whereas reasonable results can be also obtained for two‐dimensional problems, such as two‐dimensional axisymmetric flow and flow in an infinite plane. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于粒子群支持向量机的三维含水层渗流参数反馈识别

实际岩土体含水层渗流一般是三维、空间各向异性的。针对三维渗流参数识别的数值正算时间过长,易限于局部最优解的问题,提出了一种基于支持向量机和粒子群优化算法的含水层渗流参数反馈识别方法。采用正交试验设计和有限元程序生成学习样本,利用支持向量机高度非线性映射能力,建立水头与渗流参数之间的映射关系,进而以识别误差目标函数为适应值,通过粒子群优化算法反馈搜索得到渗流参数。该方法可直接利用现有大规模渗流有限元程序进行三维含水层渗流参数识别。算例表明,该方法具有良好的效率和精度。     

Transient seepage analysis in zoned anisotropic soils based on the scaled boundary finite‐element method

The scaled boundary finite‐element method, a semi‐analytical computational scheme primarily developed for dynamic stiffness of unbounded domains, is applied to the analysis of unsteady seepage flow problems. This method is based on the finite‐element technology and gains the advantages of the boundary element method as well. Only boundary of the domain is discretized, no fundamental solution is required and singularity problems can be modeled rigorously. Anisotropic and non‐homogeneous materials satisfying similarity are modeled with no additional efforts. In this study, firstly, formulation of the method for the transient seepage flow problems is derived followed by its solution procedures. The accuracy, simplicity and applicability of the method are demonstrated via four numerical examples of transient seepage flow – three of them are available in the literature. Homogenous, non‐homogenous, isotropic and anisotropic material properties are considered to show the versatility of the technique. Excellent agreement with the finite‐element method is observed. The method out‐performs the finite‐element method in modeling singularity points. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equivalent continuum strain calculations based on 3D particle kinematic measurements of sand

Constitutive modeling of granular materials has been a subject of extensive research for many years. While the calculation of the Cauchy stress tensor using the discrete element method has been well established in the literature, the formulation and interpretation of the strain tensor are not as well documented. According to Bagi, 1 researchers mostly adopt well‐known continuum or discrete microstructural approaches to calculate strains within granular materials. However, neither of the 2 approaches can fully capture the behavior of granular materials. They are considered complementary to each other where each has its own strengths and limitations in solving granular‐mechanics problems. Zhang and Regueiro 2 proposed an equivalent continuum approach to calculating finite strain measures at the local level in granular materials subjected to large deformations. They used three‐dimensional discrete element method results to compare the proposed strains measures. This paper presents an experimental application of the Zhang and Regueiro 2 approach using three‐dimensional synchrotron microcomputed tomography images of a sheared Ottawa sand specimen. Invariant Eulerian finite strain measures were calculated for representative element volumes within the specimen. The spatial maps of Eulerian octahedral shear and volumetric strain were used to identify zones of intense shearing within the specimen and compared well with maps of incremental particle translation and rotation for the same specimen. The local Eulerian volumetric strain was compared to the global volumetric strains, which also can be considered as an averaging of all local Eulerian volumetric strains.     

用空气单元法求解渗流场的逸出边界问题

依据空气单元模拟排水孔的思路,在渗流场任意可能逸出边界外布置一层渗透性较强的单元,与其他实体单元一起进行渗流计算,可以实现该边界的自动求解。与现行方法相比,不仅省去了逸出边界迭代计算的麻烦,而且避免了由于逸出点定位不准确而可能引起的渗流计算不合理或收敛困难等缺陷。算例分析表明,空气单元法的计算精度与空气单元的相对渗透系数R有关,与厚度L无关。当选取了合适的R值后,可以较好地逼近现行方法。对于因引入空气单元而造成的强弱透水介质界面处数值拟真性差的现象,还提出了加入接触面薄层单元的改进方法。方法改进后,计算精度可进一步提高。最后,以小湾水电站22#坝段渗流场计算为例,说明该法的实用性和可行性。     

A practical and efficient numerical scheme for the analysis of steady state unconfined seepage flows

The scaled boundary finite‐element method (SBFEM), a novel semi‐analytical technique, is applied to the analysis of the confined and unconfined seepage flow. This method combines the advantages of the finite‐element method and the boundary element method. In this method, only the boundary of the domain is discretized; no fundamental solution is required, and singularity problems can be modeled rigorously. Anisotropic and nonhomogeneous materials satisfying similarity are modeled without additional efforts. In this paper, SBFE equations and solution procedures for the analysis of seepage flow are outlined. The accuracy of the proposed method in modeling singularity problems is demonstrated by analyzing seepage flow under a concrete dam with a cutoff at heel. As only the boundary is discretized, the variable mesh technique is advisable for modeling unconfined seepage analyses. The accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency of the method are demonstrated by modeling several unconfined seepage flow problems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A superposition scheme to obtain fundamental boundary element solutions in multi‐layered elastic media

A superposition scheme is proposed to obtain a fundamental solution for boundary elements in multi‐layered elastic media. A three‐layered elastic region is obtained by superposing two sets of bonded half‐planes and subtracting one infinite plane. Therefore, the solution for an element in a layered media can be expressed in terms of bonded half‐plane solutions and an infinite‐plane solution. The major advantages of this superposition scheme are: (1) it is unnecessary to introduce elements at the interface, (2) it can be extended to higher‐order element, and (3) it may be applicable to three dimensions easily. The accuracy and performance of the developed model is illustrated by two examples. For the problem of a pressurized two‐dimensional crack within a three‐layered system, the comparison with other numerical results shows the model is quite accurate and efficient. The model is also used for a study of a practical two‐dimensional mining problem in South Africa, i.e. stoping through a dyke with material properties different from the host rock. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

颗粒离散单元法动力人工边界设置方法

采用颗粒离散单元法进行动力计算时,人工截断边界上需设置吸收边界条件,以防止波的反射。鉴于颗粒离散单元数值计算模型的人工边界上颗粒单元半径大小不一、边界面凸凹不平,在连续介质的黏性、黏弹性、自由场边界条件方程基础之上,推导出适用于离散介质的等效方程。在离散介质的黏性边界条件等效方程中引入微调系数,提出比值迭代法以快速确定其最优值,以实现对波的最佳吸收。采用二维颗粒离散单元计算软件PFC2D,分别建立黏性、黏弹性、自由场边界条件相关数值分析模型,探讨颗粒分布模式对黏性边界上颗粒单元半径、速度分布及比值迭代过程的影响;采用外源波动算例及经典Lamb问题算例验证黏弹性边界设置方法的正确性;通过隧洞算例检验提出的自由场边界条件设置方法的正确性。     

A generic approach to modelling flexible confined boundary conditions in SPH and its application

In this paper, a new approach to applying confining stress to flexible boundaries in the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is developed to facilitate its applications in geomechanics. Unlike the conventional SPH methods that impose confining boundary conditions by creating extra boundary particles, the proposed approach makes use of kernel truncation properties of SPH approximations that occur naturally at free-surface boundaries. Therefore, it does not require extra boundary particles and, as a consequence, can be utilised to apply confining stresses onto any boundary with arbitrary geometry without the need for tracking the curvature change during the computation. This enables more complicated problems that involve moving confining boundaries, such as confining triaxial tests, to be simulated in SPH without difficulties. To further enhance SPH applications in elasto-plastic computations of geomaterials, a robust numerical procedure to implement Mohr-Coulomb plasticity model in SPH is presented for the first time to avoid difficulties associated with corner singularities in Mohr-Coulomb model. The proposed approach was first validated against two-dimensional finite element (FE) solutions for confining biaxial compression tests to demonstrate its predictive capability at small deformation range when FE solutions are still valid. It is then further extended to three-dimensional conditions and utilised to simulate triaxial compression experiments. Simulation results predicted by SPH show good agreement with experiments, FE solutions, and other numerical results available in the literature. This suggests that the proposed approach of imposing confining stress boundaries is promising and can handle complex problems that involve moving confining boundary conditions.     

A general viscous‐spring transmitting boundary for dynamic analysis of saturated poroelastic media

A time‐domain viscous‐spring transmitting boundary is presented for transient dynamic analysis of saturated poroelastic media with linear elastic and isotropic properties. The u–U formulation of Biot equation in cylindrical coordinate is adopted in the derivation. By this general viscous‐spring boundary, the effective stress and pore fluid pressure on the truncated boundary of the computational area are replaced by a set of continuously distributed spring and dashpot elements, of which the parameters are defined assuming an infinite permeability and considering the two dilatational waves. Numerical examples demonstrate good absorption of both the two cylindrical dilatational waves by the proposed ‘drained’ boundary. For general two‐dimensional wave propagation problems, acceptable accuracy can still be achieved by setting the proposed boundary relatively far away from the scatter. Numerical comparison shows that the results obtained by using this boundary are more accurate for all permeability values than those by the traditional viscous‐spring or viscous boundaries established for u–U formulation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

弹性静力学问题的边界积分形式的数值流形法

传统的数值流形法（NMM）一般均采用区域积分形式。结合边界单元法（BEM），提出了一种边界积分形式的数值流形法。该方法既能发挥NMM的可以灵活选取局部基的优势，又具有BEM降低问题求解维数的特点。针对二维的弹性静力学问题，对3个具有解析解的不同基准算例进行了数值应用，验证了所提方法的有效性和效率。计算结果表明，提高局部基的阶次可有效提高方法的计算精度。     

One‐dimensional dynamics of saturated incompressible porous media: analytical solutions and influence of inertia terms

The complexity of formulations for the hydromechanical coupled mechanics of porous media is typically minimised by simplifying assumptions such as neglecting the effect of inertia terms. For example, three formulations commonly employed to model practical problems are classified as fully dynamic, simplified dynamic and quasi‐static. Thus, depending on the porous media conditions, each formulation will have advantages and limitations. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of these limitations when solving one‐dimensional fully saturated porous media problems in addition to a new solution that considers a more general loading situation. A phase diagram is developed to assist on the selection of which formulation is more appropriate and convenient regarding particular cases of porosity and hydraulic conductivity values. Non‐dimensional formulations are proposed to achieve this goal. Results using the analytical solutions are compared against numerical values obtained with the finite element method, and the effect of porosity is investigated. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive isogeometric finite element analysis of steady‐state groundwater flow

Numerical challenges occur in the simulation of groundwater flow problems because of complex boundary conditions, varying material properties, presence of sources or sinks in the flow domain, or a combination of these. In this paper, we apply adaptive isogeometric finite element analysis using locally refined (LR) B‐splines to address these types of problems. The fundamentals behind isogeometric analysis and LR B‐splines are briefly presented. Galerkin's method is applied to the standard weak formulation of the governing equation to derive the linear system of equations. A posteriori error estimates are calculated to identify which B‐splines should be locally refined. The error estimates are calculated based on recovery of the L₂‐projected solution. The adaptive analysis method is first illustrated by performing simulation of benchmark problems with analytical solutions. Numerical applications to two‐dimensional groundwater flow problems are then presented. The problems studied are flow around an impervious corner, flow around a cutoff wall, and flow in a heterogeneous medium. The convergence rates obtained with adaptive analysis using local refinement were, in general, observed to be of optimal order in contrast to simulations with uniform refinement. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic response of slopes subjected to incident SV wave by an improved boundary element approach

In this paper, an improved boundary element approach for 2D elastodynamics in time‐domain is presented. This approach consists in the truncation of time integrations, based on the rapid decrease of the fundamental solutions with time. It is shown that an important reduction of the computation time as well as the storage requirement can be achieved. Moreover, for half‐plane problems, the size of boundary element (BE) meshes and the computation time can be significantly reduced. The proposed approach is used to study the seismic response of slopes subjected to incident SV waves. It is found that large amplifications take place on the upper surface close to the slope, while attenuations are produced on the lower surface. The results also show that surface motions become very complex when the incident wavelength is comparable with the size of the slope or when the slope is steep. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of transmitting boundaries in dynamic finite element analyses using explicit time integration

Explicit time integration schemes provide an efficient solution to non-linear dynamic finite element analyses of geotechnical problems especially when high frequency response is important. Such explicit time integration schemes require one of two distinct transmitting boundary formulations to overcome the problem of radiation damping. These are the superposition boundary approach, which involves the cancellation of the reflected waves by combining the solutions of two different boundary conditions and the viscous boundary approach, which involves the absorption of incident wave energy by frequency independent viscous dashpots. The theoretical justification of these two approaches and their means of implementation are reviewed. The solutions obtained using the two different boundary approaches to the problem of a rigid massless circular footing vibrating on an elastic half-space are compared with an independent theoretical solution. The performance of the boundaries for problems involving step loading is also examined and the implications for any loading pattern with a non-zero time average are discussed.     

Analytical solution for one‐dimensional consolidation of unsaturated soils using eigenfunction expansion method

This paper introduces an exact analytical solution for governing flow equations for one‐dimensional consolidation in unsaturated soil stratum using the techniques of eigenfunction expansion and Laplace transformation. The homogeneous boundary conditions adopted in this study are as follows: (i) a one‐way drainage system of homogenous soils, in which the top surface is considered as permeable to air and water, whereas the base is an impervious bedrock; and (ii) a two‐way drainage system where both soil ends allow free dissipation of pore‐air and pore‐water pressures. In addition, the analytical development adopts initial conditions capturing both uniform and linear distributions of the initial excess pore pressures within the soil stratum. Eigenfunctions and eigenvalues are parts of the general solution and can be obtained based on the proposed boundary conditions. Besides, the Laplace transform method is adopted to solve the first‐order differential equations. Once equations with transformed domain are all obtained, the final solutions, which are proposed to be functions of time and depth, can be achieved by taking an inverse Laplace transform. To verify the proposed solution, two worked examples are provided to present the consolidation characteristics of unsaturated soils based on the proposed method. The validation of the recent results against other existing analytical solutions is graphically demonstrated. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

隧道围岩内地下水渗流边界效应影响研究

根据水位条件、施工工艺和防排水设计原则将隧道渗流计算围岩透水边界条件大致划分为4种类型,并分析了不同透水边界条件适应的施工工况。基于复变函数理论和保角映射方法,推导得出4种透水边界条件下隧道围岩内任一点孔隙水压力和隧道涌水量解析计算公式,通过与数值解的对比,印证了解析解的准确性。在此基础上,根据不同透水边界条件下隧道涌水量和围岩关键点孔隙水压力随埋深直径比（ ）的变化规律,分析了透水边界条件的变化对浅埋隧道和深埋隧道的影响,并探讨了浅埋水下隧道渗流计算中透水边界条件的选取。相关结论与认识对于隧道渗流计算和排水设计具有一定的指导作用和参考价值。     

Elasto‐plastic seepage‐induced stresses due to tunneling

When tunneling is carried out beneath the groundwater table, hydraulic boundary is altered, resulting in seepage entering into the tunnel. The development of flow into the tunnel induces seepage stresses in the ground and the lining is subjected to additional loads. This can often cause fine particles to move, which clog the filter resulting in the long‐term hydraulic deterioration of the drainage system. However, the effect of seepage force is generally not considered in the analysis of tunnel. While several elastic solutions have been proposed by assuming seepage in an elastic medium, stress solutions have not been considered for the seepage force in a porous elasto‐plastic medium. This paper documents a study that investigates the stress behavior, caused by seepage, of a tunnel in an elasto‐plastic ground and its effects on the tunnel and ground. New elasto‐plastic solutions that adopt the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion are proposed for a circular tunnel under radial flow conditions. A simple solution based on the hydraulic gradient obtained from a numerical parametric study is also proposed for practical use. It should be noted that the simple equation is useful for acquiring additional insight into a problem on a tunnel under drainage, because only a minimal computational effort is needed and considerable economic benefits can be gained by using it in the preliminary stage of tunnel design. The proposed equations were partly validated by numerical analysis, and their applicability is illustrated and discussed using an example problem. Comments on the tunnel analysis are also provided. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种基于单元局部坐标系求解二维孔隙渗流问题的数值方法

将数值计算区域用三角形单元进行离散,并为每个单元构建局部坐标系。局部坐标系的X轴为三角形单元某一条边的方向,局部坐标系的原点为该边的其中一个端点。在局部坐标系下,基于“格林公式”及达西定律推导了单元压力梯度及单元流速的解析表达式,给出了流经单元各棱及各节点的流量计算方法。形成了类似固体弹簧系统的渗流管道网络,建立了管道压差与流量的函数关系。将各单元局部坐标系下求得的流速及流量转换至整体坐标系,并在节点上进行凝聚。通过引入流体体积模量实现了节点渗透压力的显式求解,通过引入节点饱和度实现了非饱和问题的求解。基于局部坐标系的方法具有物理意义明确、求解过程简单等特点。通过在局部坐标系下构建管道压差与管道流量的对应关系,将有限元的渗透刚度矩阵简化为两个管道的渗透刚度值,从而节省了内存,提高了计算效率。4个数值算例的计算结果与理论解基本一致,表明了该方法在求解稳态、非稳态、饱和、非饱和渗流问题时的精度。     

Finite element modeling of wave propagation problems in multilayered soils resting on a rigid base

A new finite element scheme is proposed, in this paper, for solving two-dimensional wave propagation problems in multilayered soils resting on a rigid base. The multilayered soils are treated as multiple horizontal layers of lateral infinite extension in geometry. Since these horizontal layers can be truncated by two artificially truncated vertical boundaries, two high-order artificial boundary conditions are applied for propagating the incoming waves from the interior domain into the far field of the system. Both the semi-analytical method and the truncated boundary migration procedure are used to derive the high-order artificial boundary conditions, which are comprised of a physically meaningful dashpot and a generalized energy absorber. The main advantage of using the proposed finite element scheme is that the derived artificial boundary condition can be straightforwardly implemented in the finite element analysis, without violating the band/sparse structure of the conventional finite element equation. The related numerical examples have demonstrated that the proposed finite element scheme is of high accuracy in dealing with wave propagation problems in multiple horizontal layers.