Numerical modeling of multiphase fluid flow in deforming porous media: A comparison between two- and three-phase models for seismic analysis of earth and rockfill dams

In this paper, a fully coupled numerical model is presented for the finite element analysis of the deforming porous medium interacting with the flow of two immiscible compressible wetting and non-wetting pore fluids. The governing equations involving coupled fluid flow and deformation processes in unsaturated soils are derived within the framework of the generalized Biot theory. The displacements of the solid phase, the pressure of the wetting phase and the capillary pressure are taken as the primary unknowns of the present formulation. The other variables are incorporated into the model using the experimentally determined functions that define the relationship between the hydraulic properties of the porous medium, i.e. saturation, relative permeability and capillary pressure. It is worth mentioning that the imposition of various boundary conditions is feasible notwithstanding the choice of the primary variables. The modified Pastor–Zienkiewicz generalized constitutive model is introduced into the mathematical formulation to simulate the mechanical behavior of the unsaturated soil. The accuracy of the proposed mathematical model for analyzing coupled fluid flows in porous media is verified by the resolution of several numerical examples for which previous solutions are known. Finally, the performance of the computational algorithm in modeling of large-scale porous media problems including the large elasto-plastic deformations is demonstrated through the fully coupled analysis of the failure of two earth and rockfill dams. Furthermore, the three-phase model is compared to its simplified one which simulates the unsaturated porous medium as a two-phase one with static air phase. The paper illustrates the shortcomings of the commonly used simplified approach in the context of seismic analysis of two earth and rockfill dams. It is shown that accounting the pore air as an independent phase significantly influences the unsaturated soil behavior.     

非饱和土拟二维平面应变固结问题的解析计算方法

基于Fredlund非饱和土一维固结理论,建立了二维平面应变条件下的固结方程组,并得到了单层非饱和土平面应变条件下的解析解。基于相关理论,假设体变系数和渗透系数都为常量,同时考虑到瞬时加载条件下,沿着土体深度方向上产生均匀或者线性分布的初始超孔隙压力,建立了二阶二元偏微分方程组。求解时,引入函数方法来降低方程的阶数,然后通过分离变量法获得方程的通解。在此基础上,结合一个针对单面排水条件下二维平面应变问题案例,通过与数值解对比,验证了所提方法的正确性。并采用所提方法计算获得了二维平面下超孔隙水压力、气压力沿垂直和水平方向消散的等时线,通过计算对比,分析了不同线性分布情况下,初始超孔隙压力对固结消散过程的影响。研究结果表明：初始超孔隙压力的不同分布对超孔隙气压力消散的影响几乎可以忽略,而对超孔隙水压力消散的影响更大。     

Numerical analysis of a one‐dimensional infiltration problem in unsaturated soil by a seepage–deformation coupled method

A multiphase coupled elasto‐viscoplastic finite element analysis formulation, based on the theory of porous media, is used to describe the rainfall infiltration process into a one‐dimensional soil column. Using this framework, we have numerically analyzed the generation of pore water pressure and deformations when rainfall is applied to the soil. A parametric study, including rainfall intensity, soil–water characteristic curves, and permeability, is carried out to observe their influence on the changes in pore water pressure and volumetric strain. From the numerical results, it is shown that the generation of pore water pressure and volumetric strain is mainly controlled by material parameters α and n′ that describe the soil–water characteristic curve. A comparison with the laboratory results shows that the proposed method can describe very well the characteristics observed during the experiments of one‐dimensional water infiltration into a layered unsaturated soil column. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

真空预压加固区硬壳层的水分运移解析解

本文根据非饱和土体的渗流理论,建立水分运移模型,研究真空预压在稳态下的水分运移机制,给出了孔隙水压力分布的控制方程及其解析解。根据工程实测数据验证解析解的结果,并对不同参数进行分析。结果表明：稳态下真空预压水分运移模型计算的结果和现场实测数据基本吻合。扩散通量Q和降饱和系数?对上层非饱和区域的形成位置、强度及厚度的影响较大。扩散通量Q越大,土体表层的基质吸力越大,孔隙水压力变化趋势就越大;降饱和系数?在0.3~1.0 kPa-1内对非饱和土体部分基本没有影响。     

Isogeometric analysis for unsaturated flow problems

Unsaturated flow problems in porous media often described by Richards’ equation are of great importance in many engineering applications. In this contribution, we propose a new numerical flow approach based on isogeometric analysis (IGA) for modeling the unsaturated flow problems. The non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) basis is utilized for spatial discretization whereas the stable implicit backward Euler method for time discretization. The nonlinear Richards’ equation is iteratively solved with the aid of the Newton–Raphson scheme. Owing to some desirable features of an efficient numerical flow approach, major advantages of the present formulation involve: (a) numerical oscillation at the wetting front can be avoided or facilitated, simply by using either an h-refinement or a lumped mass matrix technique; (b) higher-order exactness can be obtained due to the nature of the IGA features; (c) the approach is straightforward to implement and it does not need any transformation, e.g., Kirchhoff transformation or filter algorithm; and (d) in contrast to the Picard iteration scheme, which forms linear convergences, the proposed approach can however yield quadratic convergences by using the Newton–Raphson method for solving resultant nonlinear equations. Numerical model validation is analyzed by solving a three-dimensional unsaturated flow problem in soil, and its derived results are verified against analytical solutions. Numerical applications are then studied by considering three extensive examples with simple and complex configurations to further show the accuracy and applicability of the present IGA.     

Numerical analysis of seepage–deformation in unsaturated soils

A coupled elastic–plastic finite element analysis based on simplified consolidation theory for unsaturated soils is used to investigate the coupling processes of water infiltration and deformation. By introducing a reduced suction and an elastic–plastic constitutive equation for the soil skeleton, the simplified consolidation theory for unsaturated soils is incorporated into an in-house finite element code. Using the proposed numerical method, the generation of pore water pressure and development of deformation can be simulated under evaporation or rainfall infiltration conditions. Through a parametric study and comparison with the test results, the proposed method is found to describe well the characteristics during water evaporation/infiltration into unsaturated soils. Finally, an unsaturated soil slope with water infiltration is analyzed in detail to investigate the development of the displacement and generation of pore water pressure.     

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.     

Correlation of unsaturated soil and dielectric property for monitoring of subsurface characteristics: development of unsaturated dielectric mixing models and its application

The behavior due to rainfall infiltrating the ground plays a role in landslides, groundwater recharge and various other ground responses. Most of these geotechnical behaviors have a correlation between soil pore space and soil volumetric water content in the unsaturated and saturated soil porous media. Therefore, the soil porosity associated with soil pores and the distribution of volumetric water content are significantly important hydrological characteristics. In the case of shallow slope failure such as landslide, the infiltration activity due to the connectivity of soil pore spaces in a porous media is induced. Slope failure may be attributed to the effect of a wetting front with the slope due to liquid infiltration, which changes the volumetric water content, soil matric suction and shear strength of the slope. This study was performed with an unsaturated injection test using a frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) dielectric device which measures the dielectric constant of unsaturated soil and the study then proposed the unsaturated dielectric mixing models to calculate soil porosity and effective porosity of unsaturated soils. From the experimental results the ratio of effective porosity to porosity of soils are measured in a range of 70–85%. These experimental results show a decrease of about 5–10% for unsaturated soil compared to the ratio of effective porosity to porosity of saturated soil. The infiltration passages of tracer material are restricted within the pore connectivity in the unsaturated soil which is caused by dead-pores in the soil. Using the FDR device and the unsaturated dielectric mixing models, we can consider the acquisition of physical properties to detect the infiltration activity, the response of the dielectric constant along with the injected tracer and hydrological parameters for the unsaturated soil porous media.     

复杂水力路径下非饱和流动的数值分析

多孔介质中的流动问题,与孔隙介质的特性,含水量状态以及含水量的变化历史密切相关。基于毛细循环滞回理论模型,考虑含水量变化历史对土水特征关系的影响,在开发的U-DYSAC2有限元程序中进行了相应的数值实施。在试验给定的初边值条件下进行了非饱和渗流模拟分析,并将模拟结果与实测数据比较,表明在压力边界条件反复变化下,考虑滞回效应能获得更接近实测的结果,证实该模型在模拟各种循环变化条件下非饱和土渗流初边值问题的适用性与必要性。对入渗重分布反复变化条件下非饱和土柱流动的数值模拟表明,考虑滞回与不考虑滞回条件下,含水量、孔隙水压力和湿峰的迁移的预测在入渗后的重分布过程差异较大。考虑滞回效应时,土柱上部的脱湿速率、下部的吸湿速率比不考虑滞回时要低。从而证实了非饱和多孔介质中的土水状态依赖于含水量变化,而且强烈依赖于土体的水力路径变化。因此,循环边界条件变化下,毛细滞回效应在非饱和渗流模拟中的影响显著,必须加以考虑。     

Influence of gas generation in electro‐osmosis consolidation

This paper presents a numerical model for the elasto‐plastic electro‐osmosis consolidation of unsaturated clays experiencing large strains, by considering electro‐osmosis and hydro‐mechanical flows in a deformable multiphase porous medium. The coupled governing equations involving the pore water flow, pore gas flow, electric flow and mechanical deformation in unsaturated clays are derived within the framework of averaging theory and solved numerically using finite elements. The displacements of the solid phase, the pressure of the water phase, the pressure of the gas phase and the electric potential are taken as the primary unknowns in the proposed model. The nonlinear variation of transport parameters during electro‐osmosis consolidation are incorporated into the model using empirical expressions that strongly depend on the degree of water saturation, whereas the Barcelona Basic Model is employed to simulate the elasto‐plastic mechanical behaviour of unsaturated clays. The accuracy of the proposed model is evaluated by validating it against two well‐known numerical examples, involving electro‐osmosis and unsaturated soil behaviour respectively. Two further examples are then investigated to study the capability of the computational algorithm in modelling multiphase flow in electro‐osmosis consolidation. Finally, the effects of gas generation at the anode, the deformation characteristics, the degree of saturation and the time dependent evolution of the excess pore pressure are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some numerical issues using element‐free Galerkin mesh‐less method for coupled hydro‐mechanical problems

A new formulation of the element‐free Galerkin (EFG) method is developed for solving coupled hydro‐mechanical problems. The numerical approach is based on solving the two governing partial differential equations of equilibrium and continuity of pore water simultaneously. Spatial variables in the weak form, i.e. displacement increment and pore water pressure increment, are discretized using the same EFG shape functions. An incremental constrained Galerkin weak form is used to create the discrete system equations and a fully implicit scheme is used for discretization in the time domain. Implementation of essential boundary conditions is based on a penalty method. Numerical stability of the developed formulation is examined in order to achieve appropriate accuracy of the EFG solution for coupled hydro‐mechanical problems. Examples are studied and compared with closed‐form or finite element method solutions to demonstrate the validity of the developed model and its capabilities. The results indicate that the EFG method is capable of handling coupled problems in saturated porous media and can predict well both the soil deformation and variation of pore water pressure over time. Some guidelines are proposed to guarantee the accuracy of the EFG solution for coupled hydro‐mechanical problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wave-induced soil response in an unsaturated anisotropic seabed of finite thickness

An analytical solution for the wave-induced soil response is developed for a seabed of finite thickness subject to a three-dimensional (3-D) wave system produced by two intersecting waves of equal properties. These 3-D exact solutions for the pore pressure and effective stresses, proposed for a non-cohesive soil matrix of finite depth in a homogeneously unsaturated and anisotropic condition, are readily reducible to the limiting two-dimensional cases of progressive and standing waves, for which no explicit solutions are available for finite thickness. The effects of soil isotropy, degree of saturation, seabed thickness and grain size on the wave-induced pore pressure are discussed in detail. The explicit solutions presented in this study for the wave-induced pore pressure and effective stresses should benefit the laboratory experiments and field monitoring programs carried out in soil of finite depth.     

相间相互作用原理与土壤水动力学基本方程

进一步阐明了多相介质力学分析的相间相互作用原理.应用相间相互作用原理重新推导了饱和土壤和非饱和土壤水分运动的控制方程,使两者具有统一的表达形式和理论基础.说明了达西定律的物理意义,在此基础上给出了非饱和土壤导水系数与饱和土壤渗透系数之间关系的表达式,该表达式在饱和条件下退化为饱和土的渗透系数.引用大连地区亚粘土和硅微粉在非饱和稳态渗流条件下的渗透试验结果验证了导水系数和饱和土的渗透系数之间的关系.     

Consolidation around a heat source buried deep in a porous thermoelastic medium with anisotropic flow properties

A solution is derived for the heat flow and consolidation which occur when a heat source is buried deep in a porous thermoelastic soil having anisotropic flow properties. This solution is used to examine the pore pressure generation and dissipation near both point and cylindrical heat sources. An increase in temperature will tend to generate an increase in excess pore pressure. However, the pore water will tend to flow from regions of high excess pore pressure to regions of low excess pore pressure, and so consolidation will occur, and temperature-generated excess pore pressures will tend to dissipate. Many natural soils exhibit horizontal layering and so have a higher horizontal than vertical permeability. It is shown that in soils the excess pore pressure generated by a heat source is significantly less than that in an isotropic soil having an equal vertical permeability.     

降雨条件下岩土饱和-非饱和渗流分析

基于Buckley-Leverett两相渗流方程,提出了新的岩土饱和-非饱和渗流数学模型,利用有限差分方法给出了隐式压力显示饱和度数值求解方法,编制了饱和-非饱和渗流计算程序.结合工程实例,模拟了降雨入渗条件下边坡岩体渗流场孔隙压力变化和含水饱和度变化,模拟结果验证了所提出的模型对饱和-非饱和渗流的有效性.     

Performances of two instrumented laboratory models for the study of rainfall infiltration into unsaturated soils

Rainfall infiltration and suction variation in unsaturated soils must be taken into consideration in the analysis of most slope stability problems, particularly in the tropical regions where the annual precipitation is high. The process of rainfall infiltration into unsaturated soils is an extremely complex problem attributed to the non-linearity of the hydraulic property functions of the unsaturated soils. This paper describes in detail two instrumented laboratory models, i.e. one-dimensional soil column, and two-dimensional slope model used to provide experimental evidences for the transient suction variations in the unsaturated soils under certain rainfall conditions. The performances of the laboratory models were tested on four typical types of residual soils, i.e. sand-gravel, silty gravel, sandy silt, and silt (kaolin), and a two-layered soil system, i.e. sandy silt underlain by silty gravel. The results showed that the suction distributions for the single-layered homogeneous soils obtained from the simpler one-dimensional soil column were almost identical to that of two-dimensional slope model. However, the two-dimensional slope model should be employed for the two-layered soil system because of the dominant effect of the lateral flow mechanism. The capillary barrier effect was observed when a less permeable soil layer was underlain by a more permeable soil layer. The minimum suction value in soil is governed by the rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, and the saturated permeability of soil. The infiltration rate of the fine-grained soils that subjected to shrink and crack was independent of the soil permeability, but was significantly governed by the preferential flows developed in the soils.     

A numerical formulation with unified unilateral boundary condition for unsaturated flow problems in porous media

This paper proposed a numerical formulation for unsaturated flow problems with nonlinear boundaries of seepage face and soil–atmosphere interface via the concept of parabolic variational inequality (PVI) method. A unified unilateral boundary condition was first proposed to represent the conditions on the seepage face and soil–atmosphere interface boundaries within the partial differential equation (PDE) formulation. A PVI formulation mathematically equivalent to the PDE formulation was then proposed, which automatically transforms the flux part of the unified unilateral boundary condition into the natural boundary condition and eliminates the singularity at seepage points. By discretizing the PVI formulation, a finite element procedure together with an iterative algorithm was suggested. An existing experiment of unsaturated flow in a layered hillside and a laboratory test of unsaturated flow through sand flume performed in this study were used to validate the proposed method, with a good agreement between the measured and computed results and a satisfactory balance of mass being maintained during the simulations. The numerical results also indicated that the problem of mesh dependence associated with unsaturated flow simulations is well addressed with the proposed numerical method. Finally, the process of unsaturated flow in a soil slope with layers of horizontal drains subjected to rainfall/evaporation was further examined. The numerical results reveal that the deployment of drains in a soil slope can significantly lower the pore water pressure around the drains, with the bottom layer drains being most effective in controlling the seepage flow.     

考虑气相影响的降雨入渗过程分析研究

降雨入渗过程是水在下渗的过程中驱替空气的水-气二相流过程,对这一过程的精确模拟一直是渗流计算的难点,目前的处理方法通常是忽略孔隙气压力变化的影响。根据多相流理论,结合质量守恒定律和达西定律,建立了水-气二相流模型,模型的求解采用积分有限差分法和Newton-Raphson迭代方法,通过变换主要变量来表达相态的变化,实现了水相、气相边界条件及降雨入渗边界的精确模拟。利用上述模型对一土柱试验进行模拟,从而验证了模型的正确性,研究了一均质土层的降雨入渗过程,得到了孔隙水压力、孔隙气压力和毛细压力及含水率的变化过程。根据入渗率与地表孔隙气压力的变化关系,验证了孔隙气压力的增大对入渗水流产生阻滞作用。在求解非稳定渗流问题中,考虑空气压力变化的影响是值得研究的。     

深层搅拌桩周围土体劈裂的研究与分析

现场测试结果表明：深层搅拌桩施工可以在周围土体中产生很高的超静孔隙水压力,其量值可能超过土体的静水劈裂压力。搅拌桩施工时和周围土体的相互作用可以用受剪的孔穴扩张过程来模拟。针对搅拌桩施工引起的周围土体的劈裂现象,提出了一种基于拉伸破坏原理的劈裂分析方法。分析结果表明：搅拌叶片的旋转对桩周围土体的劈裂起着很重要的作用。通过室内模型桩打设试验可以观测到搅拌桩周围土体的劈裂现象。分析现场搅拌桩施工时桩周土体中的孔隙水压力测试结果,表明现场施工可以引起劈裂。劈裂裂缝对于搅拌桩的性状有如下两方面的正面作用：其一,水泥浆体可以流入劈裂裂缝;其二,超静孔隙水压可以通过劈裂裂缝快速消散。这两者的作用加快了受扰动的周围土体的强度恢复。     

库水上升条件下不同土体类型岸坡渗流场特征

库水位与岸坡体内地下水渗流场的动态变化密切相关。传统的饱和土渗流分析方法无法准确描述水位上升过程中岸坡内渗流场的规律。从饱和-非饱和非稳定渗流理论出发,在室内实验得到基质吸力和体积含水量关系的基础上,通过对实验数据拟合,得出Van Genuchten模型中土水特征参数。以三峡库区典型岸坡为例,模拟库水匀速上升时,坡体为粉质黏土、粉土、砂土和砾石土4种岩土介质类型下的渗流特征,并监测坡面高程为165 m和155 m竖直剖面上的孔隙水压力变化。结果表明:库水位匀速上升过程中岸坡体内浸润线呈"V "字型,并且各时步" V"字型浸润线的拐点连线随渗透性的增大有逐渐与坡面平行的趋势;揭示了4种土体类型孔隙水压力随时间的变化规律。研究成果可为水库岸坡的防治提供较重要的借鉴与参考。