Face stability of shallow circular tunnels driven under the water table: a numerical analysis

The stability analysis of a tunnel excavated in a water-saturated frictional soil is investigated in the light of a failure design approach. The soil strength properties being classically formulated in terms of effective stresses, it is first shown how the effect of seepage flow generated by the excavation process, may be accounted for in such an analysis by means of driving body forces derived from the gradient of an excess pore pressures distribution. The latter is obtained as the solution of a hydraulic boundary value problem, in which both water table evolution and soil deformability can be neglected. A variational formulation of this hydraulic problem in terms of filtration velocities is then presented, leading through appropriate numerical treatment, to a search for the minimum without constraints of a quadratic functional (hybrid formulation), which is formulated by a finite element method. Some numerical examples are given, which provide ample evidence of the crucial role played by seepage forces in the tunnel face stability, since the factor of stability may be divided by as much as three. The influence of such parameters as the tunnel relative depth or soil anisotropic permeability is finally discussed, thus offering a first illustration of the various capabilities of this numerical tool. Copyright © 1999 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.     

土体固结弹塑性分析的参数二次规划理论及有限元解

基于广义Ｂｉｏｔ理论对土体弹塑性固结过程进行求解，建立了问题对应的参变量变分理论，并给出了数学证明，对此基础上推导了有限元分析列式，问题的求解最终化为参数二次规划问题，本文提出的方法适用于固结弹塑性分析的关联与非关流流动问题，也可处理各类软化问题。     

Three‐dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis of pile groups in saturated porous media using a new transmitting boundary

The dynamic behaviour of pile groups subjected to an earthquake base shaking is analysed. An analysis is formulated in the time domain and the effects of material nonlinearity of soil, pile–soil–pile kinematic interaction and the superstructure–foundation inertial interaction on seismic response are investigated. Prediction of response of pile group–soil system during a large earthquake requires consideration of various aspects such as the nonlinear and elasto‐plastic behaviour of soil, pore water pressure generation in soil, radiation of energy away from the pile, etc. A fully explicit dynamic finite element scheme is developed for saturated porous media, based on the extension of the original formulation by Biot having solid displacement (u) and relative fluid displacement (w) as primary variables (u–w formulation). All linear relative fluid acceleration terms are included in this formulation. A new three‐dimensional transmitting boundary that was developed in cartesian co‐ordinate system for dynamic response analysis of fluid‐saturated porous media is implemented to avoid wave reflections towards the structure. In contrast to traditional methods, this boundary is able to absorb surface waves as well as body waves. The pile–soil interaction problem is analysed and it is shown that the results from the fully coupled procedure, using the advanced transmitting boundary, compare reasonably well with centrifuge data. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Method of initial parameters for laterally loaded piles embedded in layered soils

The method of initial parameters (MIP) was originally developed to solve the problem of a beam on an elastic foundation with applied concentrated forces along the span, which introduce discontinuities in the mathematical formulation of the problem. MIP is modified in this paper so that it can be used for solving the problem of a laterally loaded pile with discontinuities due to soil layering along the length of the pile. In this paper, the basis of MIP is outlined, and its use to find the deflection, slope, bending moment and shear force of laterally loaded piles is illustrated. Example problems of laterally loaded piles embedded in multi-layered soil media are provided.     

Stable axisymmetric SPH formulation with no axis singularity

The axisymmetric formulation of the governing equations for geomechanics in the framework of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is presented in this study. Two forms of SPH discretization for the motion equations, which are labeled as form I and form II, are proposed, and the methods to compute the hoop stress and strain terms including hoop strain rate and the acceleration introduced by the hoop stress are compared. To avoid possible singularity problem near the axis of symmetry, a perfectly smooth contact along with ghost particles are applied to prevent the real particles from overly approaching the axis of symmetry to remove this potential singularity. In addition, the Mohr–Coulomb constitutive model is implemented into the SPH formulation in describing soil behavior. Four numerical tests are carried out to validate and compare the accuracy and stability of the proposed algorithms, and their results are compared with analytical solutions and results from FEM analysis. The performance in these comparisons suggests that SPH II with hoop terms computed through direct hoop method is more stable than the others, and the adoption of contact for the symmetric axis is efficient in eliminating the singularity problem. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled heat and mass transfer in unsaturated soil—a potential-based solution

An analysis of coupled heat and moisture movement in unsaturated soil in terms of the fundamental potentials for flow is examined. The approach adopted is based on the assumption that the total potential for liquid flow consists of two components, the elevation and the capillary potential. The fundamental potentials employed in the work are, therefore, temperature and capillary potential. The full theoretical formulation of the problem is presented, together with full details of the solution algorithm employed. Spatial discretization is achieved via the use of the finite element method, with the time-varying behaviour described by a finite difference technique. Soil parameter variations as functions of both temperature and moisture content are included in a one-dimensional approach. The work is applied to a practical engineering problem, namely heat and mass transfer in the upper layers of a soil stratum. This problem is of importance to the utilities, since many services are buried in this zone. Material parameters obtained from an associated programme of experimental work are employed. Moisture content and temperature profiles indicating the extent and rate of penetration of drying and heating fronts are produced.     

Numerical study of localization in soil systems

A numerical study of the mechanical behavior of heterogeneous soil systems, consisting of a bulk of sand with embedded stiff gravel inclusions or soft clay inclusions, is performed. A solution scheme using parallel computing is employed when analyzing two different categories of problems. First, a homogenization problem is studied, where use of a single representative volume element subjected to plane strain compression offers the possibility to investigate the coupling between the response at a local scale and at a global scale. Second, a plane strain footing problem with different heterogeneous soil systems is analyzed using a traditional finite element formulation. The material model utilized for the soil is a large deformation formulation of non-associated elasto-plasticity with an isotropic hardening law, able to represent dilation. It was found that the shape of the gravel or clay inclusions in the systems had no significant effect on the global responses, whereas the strain localizations in the two different soil systems, sand–gravel and sand–clay, were found to have different character. The effect of the initial density on the response was clearly observed in the localization patterns.     

Finite layer analysis of viscoelastic layered materials

A method is presented for obtaining the creep settlement of strip or circular loadings applied to horizontally layered soil profiles. The solution method involves applying a fourier (strip loading) or Hankel (circular loading) transform to the governing equations, which reduces the two of three dimensional problem to one involving a single spatial demension. This leads to great savings in computer storage and data preparation time, and since an exact solution may be found for each layer of material, the method has advantages over conventional finite layer techniques where field quantities must be approximated at a number of positions within each layer. The type of formulation presented hearein makies it possible to work in terms of the creep functions of the soil rather than the relaxation functions. This has distinct advantages, as it is often easier to measure the creep behaviour of a soil in the laboratory. Numerical techniques are used to invert the laplace and Hankel transforms and this means that any type of creep function (which is invertible) may be used to describe the material properties of the soil.     

Numerical modelling of dynamic consolidation on granular soils

The application of Pastor–Zienkiewicz constitutive model for sands to dynamic consolidation problems is presented in this paper. This model is implemented in a coupled code formulated in terms of displacements for both solid and fluid phases (u?w formulation), which is firstly compared with u?p_w formulation for some simple examples. Its range of validity, previously established for elastic problems and harmonic loading, is explored. Once the suitability of the u?w formulation has been ascertained for this kind of dynamic problems in soils, one‐ and two‐dimensional (plane strain) dynamic consolidation numerical examples are provided, aiming to give some light into the physics of this ground improvement technique. A ‘wave of dryness’, observed at the soil surface during the impact in field cases, is numerically reproduced and justified. Some hints on the influence of the loading zone size are also given. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A non‐linear coupled finite element–boundary element model for the prediction of vibrations due to vibratory and impact pile driving

This paper presents a non‐linear coupled finite element–boundary element approach for the prediction of free field vibrations due to vibratory and impact pile driving. Both the non‐linear constitutive behavior of the soil in the vicinity of the pile and the dynamic interaction between the pile and the soil are accounted for. A subdomain approach is used, defining a generalized structure consisting of the pile and a bounded region of soil around the pile, and an unbounded exterior linear soil domain. The soil around the pile may exhibit non‐linear constitutive behavior and is modelled with a time‐domain finite element method. The dynamic stiffness matrix of the exterior unbounded soil domain is calculated using a boundary element formulation in the frequency domain based on a limited number of modes defined on the interface between the generalized structure and the unbounded soil. The soil–structure interaction forces are evaluated as a convolution of the displacement history and the soil flexibility matrices, which are obtained by an inverse Fourier transformation from the frequency to the time domain. This results in a hybrid frequency–time domain formulation of the non‐linear dynamic soil–structure interaction problem, which is solved in the time domain using Newmark's time integration method; the interaction force time history is evaluated using the θ‐scheme in order to obtain stable solutions. The proposed hybrid formulation is validated for linear problems of vibratory and impact pile driving, showing very good agreement with the results obtained with a frequency‐domain solution. Linear predictions, however, overestimate the free field peak particle velocities as observed in reported field experiments during vibratory and impact pile driving at comparable levels of the transferred energy. This is mainly due to energy dissipation related to plastic deformations in the soil around the pile. Ground vibrations due to vibratory and impact pile driving are, therefore, also computed with a non‐linear model where the soil is modelled as an isotropic elastic, perfectly plastic solid, which yields according to the Drucker–Prager failure criterion. This results in lower predicted free field vibrations with respect to linear predictions, which are also in much better agreement with experimental results recorded during vibratory and impact pile driving. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element analysis of two cylindrical expansion problems involving nearly incompressible material behaviour

The displacement formulation of the finite element method is well suited to the analysis of elasto-plasticity problems involving compressible material behaviour, but it is well known that numerical difficulties occur when the material is incompressible or nearly incompressible. The effect of these additional constraints depends on both element formulation and mesh topology. A two-dimensional plane strain finite element formulation suitable for the solution of problems involving large strains and displacements (but small rotations) based on the isoparametric approach is described. The kinematics of deformation are defined in terms of the Eulerian strain rates that are invariably used in small strain analysis; the formulation therefore retains some of the character of small strain theory but includes additional geometrically non-linear terms. The results of a series of plane strain finite element analyses of two cylindrical expansion problems are presented. These results confirm the previously observed trend that as Poisson's ratio approaches 0·5 then the quality of the calculated stress deteriorates. The study also indicates that the solution quality depends increasingly on mesh topology as perfect incompressibility is reached.     

Modelling two-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in unsaturated soils,including gravity effects

A theoretical model is presented to predict simultaneous transient coupled heat and moisture transfer in partly saturated soils. The formulation is in terms of volumetric moisture content, is two dimensional, includes gravitational flow and takes into account latent heat of vaporization effects. The numerical solution of the problem is accomplished by means of a finite element solution algorithm. Predictions from the numerical model are used to investigate the importance of gravitational flow, for the case of a soil stratum subjected to evaporation losses at the surface. The results achieved show good qualitative agreement with expected behaviour.     

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.     

Computational study on the modification of a bounding surface plasticity model for sands

The accurate simulation of complex dynamic phenomena requires the availability of advanced constitutive models capable of simulating a wide range of features of soil behaviour under cyclic loading. One possible strategy is to improve the capabilities of existing bounding surface plasticity models, as this framework is characterised by its modularity and flexibility. As a result, specific components of the formulation of this type of model may be adjusted to improve the reproduction of any aspect of soil behaviour deemed essential to the problem being analysed. In this paper, a series of computational studies are performed in order to establish the impact of expanding a bounding surface plasticity model for sands on its modelling capabilities and to suggest ways of mitigating the associated increase in complexity. Changes to three distinct aspects of the selected constitutive model are examined: the shape of the Critical State Line in p′ − e space, the expression used for calculating the hardening modulus and the form of the yield surface. It is shown that the introduced changes have the potential to increase significantly the ability to control how certain aspects of soil response, such as degradation of stiffness and flow liquefaction with limited deformation, are reproduced by the model. Moreover, this paper presents a systematic approach to the expansion of this type of constitutive model, establishing how alterations to the formulation of a model may be assessed in terms of improved accuracy and potential benefits.     

Generalized spline-approximation problem formulation for spatial data modeling in geosciences

The discussed spline approximation in spatial data modeling for geosciences implies formulation of the variational problem in terms of functional minimization and allows simultaneous inversion for several surfaces. This modeling employs the following basic elements: stabilizers to define the common properties of unknown surfaces; differential operators to describe the unknown surfaces and their relation with the known fields; data specified locally at test points; partial differential equations similar to equations of mathematical physics for the properties of the surfaces of interest; elements of regression analysis, with the regression coefficients being calculated while solving the principal modeling problem; arbitrary amounts of direct or indirect information which is incorporated additionally into the functional on the basis of approximate conditions using weight coefficients as control parameters.The suggested generalized formulation includes the concepts of global and local equations, and strict and nonstrict relationships. This formulation, realized in the GST software, may apply to many surface modeling problems to be solved using second-order partial differential equations, with multiple criteria optimization of results and with the use of different auxiliary datasets.     

Frictionless contact formulation for dynamic analysis of nonlinear saturated porous media based on the mortar method

A finite element algorithm for frictionless contact problems in a two‐phase saturated porous medium, considering finite deformation and inertia effects, has been formulated and implemented in a finite element programme. The mechanical behaviour of the saturated porous medium is predicted using mixture theory, which models the dynamic advection of fluids through a fully saturated porous solid matrix. The resulting mixed formulation predicts all field variables including the solid displacement, pore fluid pressure and Darcy velocity of the pore fluid. The contact constraints arising from the requirement for continuity of the contact traction, as well as the fluid flow across the contact interface, are enforced using a penalty approach that is regularised with an augmented Lagrangian method. The contact formulation is based on a mortar segment‐to‐segment scheme that allows the interpolation functions of the contact elements to be of order N. The main thrust of this paper is therefore how to deal with contact interfaces in problems that involve both dynamics and consolidation and possibly large deformations of porous media. The numerical algorithm is first verified using several illustrative examples. This algorithm is then employed to solve a pipe‐seabed interaction problem, involving large deformations and dynamic effects, and the results of the analysis are also compared with those obtained using a node‐to‐segment contact algorithm. The results of this study indicate that the proposed method is able to solve the highly nonlinear problem of dynamic soil–structure interaction when coupled with pore water pressures and Darcy velocity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity analysis applied to slope stabilization at failure

This article discusses how sensitivity analysis is a sound assessment tool for selecting the most efficient stabilization method of slopes at failure. A discretized form of the variational approach is used not only for performing sensitivity analysis but to locate the critical slip surface, i.e., the sensitivity analysis is carried out in the same way as it is done in optimization problems. This method supplies a robust formulation and methodology for obtaining the sensitivities of the safety factor with respect to both the soil parameters and the slope profile, stating the slope stabilization design as a relatively simple minimization problem. Two well known examples, as the Selset landslide and the Sudbury Hill slip are used to illustrate the application of the method and to highlight both its capabilities and limitations.     

A unified formulation for generalized oilfield development optimization

Oilfield development involves several key decisions, including the number, type (injection/production), location, drilling schedule, and operating control trajectories of the wells. Without considering the coupling between these decision variables, any optimization problem formulation is bound to find suboptimal solutions. This paper presents a unified formulation for oilfield development optimization that seeks to simultaneously optimize these decision variables. We show that the source/sink term of the governing multiphase flow equations includes all the above decision variables. This insight leads to a novel and unified formulation of the field development optimization problem that considers the source/sink term in reservoir simulation equations as optimization decision variables. Therefore, a single optimization problem is formulated to simultaneously search for optimal decision variables by determining the complete dynamic form of the source/sink terms. The optimization objective function is the project net present value (NPV), which involves discounted revenue from oil production, operating costs (e.g. water injection and recycling), and capital costs (e.g., cost of drilling wells). A major difficulty after formulating the generalized field development optimization problem is finding an efficient solution approach. Since the total number of cells in a reservoir model far exceeds the number of cells that are intersected by wells, the source/sink terms tend to be sparse. In fact, the drilling cost in the NPV objective function serves as a sparsity-promoting penalty to minimize the number of wells while maximizing the NPV. Inspired by this insight, we solve the optimization problem using an efficient gradient-based method based on recent algorithmic developments in sparse reconstruction literature. The gradients of the NPV function with respect to the source/sink terms is readily computed using well-established adjoint methods. Numerical experiments are presented to evaluate the feasibility and performance of the generalized field development formulation for simultaneous optimization of the number, location, type, controls, and drilling schedule of the wells.     

A simple contact–friction interface element with applications to buried culverts

A simple friction–contact interface element is introduced which simulates frictional slippage, separation, and re-bonding of two bodies initially mating at a common interface and subsequently deforming with an arbitrary static loading schedule. Constraint equations between initially mating node pairs and the general principle of virtual work are used to formulate the interface element for a finite element solution procedure. Some advantages of the interface element include; easy implementation intostandard finite element programs, direct determination of interface forces without round-off problems, and the generality afforded by the virtual work formulation to include other non-conservative models in the system. The application of the interface element to an idealized buried culvert problem illustrates that the model behaves properly. A second application, for a long-span culvert installation with incremental soil loading, demonstrates the importance of modelling slippage at the culvert–soil interface in order to conform with experimental observations.