Modelling landslides in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using material point method

This paper presents a dynamic fully coupled formulation for saturated and unsaturated soils that undergo large deformations based on material point method. Governing equations are applied to porous material while considering it as a continuum in which the pores of the solid skeleton are filled with water and air. The accuracy of the developed method is tested with available experimental and numerical results. The developed method has been applied to investigate the failure and post‐failure behaviour of rapid landslides in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using two different bedrock geometries that lie below the top soil. The models show different failure and post‐failure mechanisms depending on the bedrock geometry and highlight the negative effects of continuous rain infiltrations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The modelling of anchors using the material point method

The ultimate capacity of anchors is determined using the material point method (MPM). MPM is a so‐called meshless method capable of modelling large displacements, deformations and contact between different bodies. A short introduction to MPM is given and the derivation of the discrete governing equations. The analysis of a vertically loaded anchor and one loaded at 45° is presented. The load–displacement curves are compared to that obtained from experiments and the effect of soil stiffness and anchor roughness is investigated. The results of the vertically loaded anchor are also compared to an analytical solution. The displacement of the soil surface above the anchor was measured and compared to the numerical predictions. Convergence with mesh refinement is demonstrated and the effect of mesh size and dilatancy angle on the shear band width and orientation is indicated. The results show that MPM can model anchor pull out successfully. No special interface elements are needed to model the anchor–soil interface and the predicted ultimate capacities were within 10% of the measured values. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

外秦淮河堤防稳定设置土工膜的动态模拟研究

以外秦淮河整治工程为背景,分析研究了外秦淮河堤防背水面在岸坡饱水工况下有或无土工膜设置时的渗透稳定性和抗滑稳定性;针对退水工况设计了3种渗透系数计算方案,分别对堤防临水面在有无土工膜时的渗透稳定性和抗滑稳定性进行了动态模拟,分析比较了有或土工膜时堤防稳定性的差别以及渗透系数的变化对其差别的影响,从而对外秦淮河堤防在运行情况下的稳定性做出了评价,对土工膜铺设对堤防稳定性的影响形成了一些有益的结论。其分析方法与结论可供同类工程借鉴。     

A GPU parallel computing strategy for the material point method

The material point method (MPM), which is a combination of the finite element and meshfree methods, suffers from significant computational workload due to the fine mesh that is required in spite of its advantages in simulating large deformations. This paper presents a parallel computing strategy for the MPM on the graphics processing unit (GPU) to boost the method’s computational efficiency. The interaction between a structural element and soil is investigated to validate the applicability of the parallelisation strategy. Two techniques are developed to parallelise the interpolation from soil particles to nodes to avoid a data race; the technique that is based on workload parallelisation across threads over the nodes has a higher computational efficiency. Benchmark problems of surface footing penetration and a submarine landslide are analysed to quantify the speedup of GPU parallel computing over sequential simulations on the central processing unit. The maximum speedup with the GPU used is ∼30 for single-precision calculations and decreases to ∼20 for double-precision calculations.     

Modelling of membranes in the material point method with applications

The objective of this paper is to formulate and validate an accurate MPM approach for the numerical simulation of the large displacement of membranes containing soil. In the proposed approach, the membrane is discretised by a surface mesh that allows accurate simulation of membrane stresses. The membrane is free to move through a three‐dimensional grid for a continuum consisting of tetrahedral elements. The approach is applied to model a geocontainer being released from a split barge, taking into account the frictional contact between the geotextile and the barge. No‐slip contact is assumed between the geotextile and the soil inside. The effect of geocontainer interaction is investigated by dropping a second container. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of material point method for use in geotechnics

The first part of the paper presents a material point method solution for the bearing capacity of a deep foundation in purely cohesive soil, which is a widely known engineering problem. The results computed with the generalised interpolation material point method are compared to the results obtained previously with an advanced limit analysis code. The second part of the paper shows material point method simulations of collapsing piles of granular material and compares the results with experimental observations from the literature. The problems considered are problematic to solve using the displacement finite element method as they generally include very large deformations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solution of quasi‐static large‐strain problems by the material point method

A procedure for solving quasi‐static large‐strain problems by the material point method is presented. Owing to the Lagrangian–Eulerian features of the method, problems associated with excessive mesh distortions that develop in the Lagrangian formulations of the finite element method are avoided. Three‐dimensional problems are solved utilizing 15‐noded prismatic and 10‐noded tetrahedral elements with quadratic interpolation functions as well as an implicit integration scheme. An algorithm for exploiting the numerical integration procedure on the computational mesh is proposed. Several numerical examples are shown. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

温度和填埋高度引起的垃圾填埋场边坡部土工膜张拉力评价

基于垃圾填埋场边坡部衬垫系统各材料之间的界面摩擦特性,提出了温度和垃圾填埋引起的土工膜端部张拉力的评价方法。以短纤维无纺布、HDPE土工膜组成衬垫系统,进行了不同填土高度下土工膜端部张拉力室外试验。试验结果表明：当填埋高度较小时,作用在HDPE土工膜端部的张拉力主要为温度应力;温差越大,土工膜端部的张拉力越大;随着填埋高度的增加,填埋引起的HDPE土工膜端部张拉力增大。运用提出的评价方法对温度和垃圾高度引起的土工膜端部张拉力进行了评价,并与试验结果进行了对比,评价温度应力时,考虑界面摩擦作用的土工膜张拉力计算结果与实测结果基本一致。     

Two‐phase dynamic analysis by material point method

This paper extends the material point method to analyze coupled dynamic, two‐phase boundary‐valued problems via a velocity formulation, in which solid and fluid phase velocities are the variables. Key components of the proposed approach are the adoption of Verruijt's sequence of update steps when integrating over time and the enhancement of volumetric strains. The connection between fractional step method and the time‐stepping algorithm presented in this paper is addressed. Enhancement of volumetric strains allows lower order variations in pressure and mitigates spurious pressure fields and locking that plague low‐order finite‐element implementations. A stress averaging technique to smoothen stress variations is proposed, and the local damping procedure adopted by FLAC is extended to handle two‐phase problems. Special Kelvin‐Voigt boundaries are developed to suppress reflections at artificial boundaries. Idealized examples are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed framework to accurately capture the physics of wave propagation, consolidation and wave attack on a sea dike. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical investigation of pile installation effects in sand using material point method

The installation of displacement piles in sand leads to severe changes in the stress state, density and soil properties around the pile tip and shaft, and therefore has a significant influence on the pile bearing capacity. Most current numerical methods predicting pile capacity do not take installation effects into account, as large deformations can lead to mesh distortion and non-converging solutions. In this study, the material point method (MPM) is applied to simulate the pile installation process and subsequent static pile loading tests. MPM is an extension of the finite element method (FEM), which is capable of modelling large deformations and soil-structure interactions. This study utilizes the moving mesh algorithm where a redefined computational mesh is applied in the convective phase. This allows a fine mesh to be maintained around the pile tip during the installation process and improves the accuracy of the numerical scheme, especially for contact formulation. For the analyses a hypoplastic constitutive model for sand is used, which takes into account density and stress dependent behaviour. The model performs well in situations with significant stress level changes because it accounts for very high stresses at the pile tip. Numerical results agree with centrifuge experiments at a gravitational level of 40 g. This analysis confirms the importance of pile installation effects in numerical simulations, as well as the proposed numerical approach’s ability to simulate installation and static load tests of jacked displacement piles.     

A coupled model for prediction of settlement and gas flow in MSW landfills

Prediction of long‐term settlement and control of gas pollution to the environment are two principle concerns during the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The behavior of settlement and gas flow in MSW landfills is complicated due to the combined effect of mechanical deformation of the solid skeleton and continuous biodegradation of the waste. A one‐dimensional settlement and gas flow model is presented in this paper, which is capable of predicting time evolution of settlement as well as temporal and spatial distribution of gas pressure within multi‐layered landfills under a variety of operating scenarios. The analytical solution to the novel model is evaluated with numerical simulation and field measurements. The resulting efficiency and accuracy highlight the capability of the proposed model to reproduce the settlement behavior and gas flow in MSW landfills. The influences of operating conditions and waste properties on settlement and gas pressure are examined for typical MSW landfills. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄土作为西北地区填埋场覆盖层的可行性及设计厚度分析

中国西北地区气候以干旱和半干旱为主,黄土广泛分布。首先介绍了西北地区3个代表性城市近50 a的气候条件和3类黄土的粒径分布及储水能力,在此基础上利用Chen、Benson等提出的水量平衡分析方法对黄土土质覆盖层在我国西北地区应用的可行性进行了探讨,并计算分析了单一型黄土覆盖层的设计厚度。分析结果表明: 西北地区夏季高温多雨植被生长茂盛而冬季降雨较少,降水和腾发作用有较好的同步对应关系,适合土质覆盖层的应用。采用黄土作单一型土质覆盖层的设计厚度在0.54～1.92 m之间,从干旱、半干旱到半湿润气候区,设计厚度逐渐变厚,其具体设计厚度与气候条件和黄土种类密切相关;在同一气候区采用粉性黄土所需厚度最薄,而采用砂性黄土则最厚。西北地区采用黄土作填埋场终场土质覆盖层具有技术可行性和良好的经济效益,值得进一步开展工程实践和更深入的研究。     

黏土固化注浆帷幕控制重金属污染物运移的数值模拟

针对南昌市麦园垃圾卫生填埋场渗滤液防渗的实际情况,分析了重金属污染物在黏土固化注浆帷幕中的迁移转化特征,建立了地下水渗流模型和重金属污染物运移的耦合动力学模型。利用该模型对黏土固化注浆帷幕控制重金属污染物的迁移行为进行了模拟研究。数值模拟结果表明,在填埋场设计使用年限内黏土固化注浆帷幕对重金属污染物的阻滞率可以达到94.5 %以上,重金属污染物在防渗系统中的浓度范围沿地下水水流方向逐渐扩展,同一位置的浓度值随时间的延续呈逐渐增大的趋势,但距离污染源越远,污染物的浓度越低。结合现场检测情况,证明了黏土固化注浆帷幕对重金属污染物具有较强的污染控制能力。     

散体材料桩复合地基沉降计算方法的研究

对散体材料桩复合地基桩与桩间土的相互作用进行研究,试验表明：散体材料桩在一定深度内发生鼓胀破坏,因此,将复合地基分为鼓胀段、非鼓胀段和下卧层3段进行沉降计算。假定桩-土协调变形,利用弹性力学空间问题理论推导出散体材料桩复合地基的沉降计算公式,为按沉降控制的复合地基优化设计提供计算依据。算例分析表明,所提方法的计算结果与实测值基本吻合。     

A new contact algorithm in the material point method for geotechnical simulations

Contact between stiff structural elements and soil is encountered in many applications in geotechnical engineering. Modelling of such contact is challenging as it often involves impact that would lead to large deformation and failure of the soil. The Material Point Method (MPM) is a mesh‐free method that has been applied to simulate such phenomena. However, the frictional contact algorithm commonly used in MPM only supports Coulomb friction and cannot model fully or partially rough contact conditions in terms of geotechnical engineering. Moreover, because of very different stiffness of contacting materials, the contact force predicted by the previous frictional contact algorithms usually suffers from severe oscillation when applied in structure–soil interaction. This paper presents a new contact algorithm, termed Geo‐contact, designed for geotechnical engineering. In Geo‐contact, a penalty function is incorporated to reduce the oscillation in contact computation, and a limited shear stress is specified along the contact interface. The proposed Geo‐contact algorithm has been implemented to simulate smooth, partially rough and rough contact in typical large deformation penetration problems. The resistance–displacement curves obtained using the Geo‐contact are compared with analytical solutions of limit analysis and large deformation finite element results to verify the accuracy and robustness of the proposed contact algorithm. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

物质点强度折减法及其在边坡中的应用

物质点法适用于模拟连续介质大变形,如边坡失稳全过程。在物质点法中应用强度折减法,用于边坡稳定性评价。与极限平衡法相比,二者安全系数计算值、滑动面位置结果基本一致;与有限元强度折减法相比,物质点法失稳评价标准的物理意义明确。利用物质点法大变形计算优势,评价边坡失稳后的破坏后果,通过算例说明其评价不同安全系数下的滑坡堆积形态及滑移距离的能力,尤其是评价滑坡对临近建筑物的影响程度的能力。物质点强度折减法可用于边坡稳定性评价及边坡破坏后果评价。     

Development of an implicit material point method for geotechnical applications

An implicit material point method (MPM), a variant of the finite element method (FEM), is presented in this paper. The key feature of MPM is that the spatial discretisation uses a set of material points, which are allowed to move freely through the background mesh. All history-dependent variables are tracked on the material points and these material points are used as integration points similar to the Gaussian points. A mapping and re-mapping algorithm is employed, to allow the state variables and other information to be mapped back and forth between the material points and background mesh nodes during an analysis. In contrast to an explicit time integration scheme utilised by most researchers, an implicit time integration scheme has been utilised here. The advantages of such an approach are twofold: firstly, it addresses the limitation of the time step size inherent in explicit integration schemes, thereby potentially saving significant computational costs for certain types of problems; secondly, it enables an improved algorithm accuracy, which is important for some constitutive behaviours, such as elasto-plasticity. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a unified MPM framework, in which both quasi-static and dynamic analyses can be solved, and to demonstrate the model behaviour. The implementation closely follows standard FEM approaches, where possible, to allow easy conversion of other FEM codes. Newton’s method is used to solve the equation of motion for both cases, while the formation of the mass matrix and the required updating of the kinematic variables are unique to the dynamic analysis. Comparisons with an Updated Lagrangian FEM and an explicit MPM code are made with respect to the algorithmic accuracy and time step size in a couple of representative examples, which helps to illustrate the relative performance and advantages of the implicit MPM. A geotechnical application is then considered, illustrating the capabilities of the proposed method when applied in the geotechnical field.     

综合方法在朱仙庄采煤沉陷区勘察中的应用与效果

地下采空区及其引发的地面沉降对人民生命、财产安全带来严重隐患,对生态环境危害极大,需要对其进行危险性评估和预测,并为矿山地质环境综合治理提供科学依据。通过遥感解译、水下测量、水工环调查、物探、钻探等手段对宿州市朱仙庄采煤沉陷区开展综合地质勘察,查明朱仙庄采煤沉陷区的地质灾害类型、分布与规模、沉陷现状及影响范围,为沉陷区地质灾害防治及综合治理、土地规划利用提供了依据。综合方法用于采煤沉陷区勘察效果好,可为今后开展类似工作提供参考。     

考虑降解和分级堆填的填埋场一维沉降计算

文章针对填埋场沉降计算问题,对垃圾压缩机理进行了研究,建立了常应力作用下的垃圾压缩模型。该模型将城市生活垃圾的压缩分为主压缩和降解压缩,其中,主压缩与压力有关,降解压缩与压力和降解条件有关。降解条件包括有机质含量和降解速率;结合对填埋场分级堆填过程的分析,建立了考虑降解和分级堆填影响的填埋场一维沉降计算方法,并对计算参数的取值方法进行了研究。     

单井注水改变填埋场中垃圾土温度的模拟

为了加速填埋场降解的稳定化,渗滤液回灌常被应用在工程实践中。使用竖井进行回灌是较为有效的方式之一。伴随着液体的注入,由于对流的产生,垃圾土温度势必会发生改变。基于无锡填埋场注水试验,对该现场试验过程中垃圾土温度的改变进行模拟。为此,建立了考虑渗透系数和孔隙率随深度变化的渗流模型,以及考虑渗流影响的热对流-热传导模型,并利用数值计算方法进行求解。在对比计算值和试验值之后,发现所建立的模型能较好地模拟注水期间渗滤液水位和垃圾土温度的变化规律。结果表明：在离注水井超过6 m处的位置,显现的液位相对滞后,至少滞后0.15 d,而且距离越远滞后的时间越长;在液位以下,注水井周围的垃圾土温度均低于初始温度。但是在径向上远离注水井3.6 m之外的垃圾土温度并不是全低于初始温度,在新老垃圾土交界处之上2 m范围内,会出现温度高于初始温度的现象,温度差可达3 ℃;新填垃圾土的已降解时长对单井注水工况下温度分布的影响较为显著。