High‐order ADE scheme for solving the fluid diffusion equation in non‐uniform grids and its application in coupled hydro‐mechanical simulation

To improve the stability and efficiency of explicit technique, one proposed method is to use an unconditionally stable alternating direction explicit (ADE) scheme. However, the standard ADE scheme is only moderately accurate and restricted to uniform grids. This paper derives a novel high‐order ADE scheme capable of solving the fluid diffusion equation in non‐uniform grids. The new scheme is derived by performing a fourth‐order finite difference approximation to the spatial derivatives of the diffusion equation in non‐uniform grid. The implicit Crank‐Nicolson technique is then applied to the resulting approximation, and the subsequent equation is split into two alternating direction sweeps, giving rise to a new high‐order ADE scheme. Because the new scheme can be potentially applied in coupled hydro‐mechanical (H‐M) simulation, the pore pressure solutions from the new scheme are then sequentially coupled with an existing geomechanical simulator in the computer program Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua. This coupling procedure is called the sequentially explicit coupling technique based on the fourth‐order ADE scheme (SEA‐4). Verifications of well‐known consolidation problems showed that the new ADE scheme and SEA‐4 can reduce computer runtime by 46% to 75% to that of Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua's basic scheme. At the same time, the techniques still maintained average percentage error of 1.6% to 3.5% for pore pressure and 0.2% to 1.5% for displacement solutions and were still accurate under typical grid non‐uniformities. This result suggests that the new high‐order ADE scheme can provide an efficient explicit technique for solving the flow equation of a coupled H‐M problem, which will be beneficial for large‐scale and long‐term H‐M problems in geoengineering.     

Role of the confined aquifer in the mechanism of soil liquefaction due to the 7.5 Mw earthquake in Palu (Indonesia) on 28 September 2018

Soil liquefaction on 28 September 2018 in Palu, Indonesia, included one of the largest soil movements ever, where objects on the ground surface moved hundreds of meters away and settlements sank into the mud. Some preliminary studies show that in addition to a strong earthquake, there are strong indications that a confined aquifer in the Palu valley worsened the liquefaction. The role of the confined aquifer can be recognized early on from one of various signs, namely the presence of massive surface inundations suspected due to groundwater expulsion which is thought to originate mostly from the confined aquifer. This paper describes the mechanism of the soil liquefaction in Palu from the perspective of earthquake hydrogeology, focusing on the groundwater expelled from an unconfined aquifer and especially from the underlying confined aquifer through hydraulic inter-connection between the two, which is possible due to simultaneous interaction of excess pore pressure dissipation and enhanced permeability driven by an earthquake in the near field. If this hypothesis proves to be strong, there are implications for engineering practices because the evaluation of potential soil liquefaction carried out currently in the geotechnical engineering field generally only involves the role of shallow groundwater and/or the unconfined aquifer and the role of soil layers not deeper than 30 m from the ground surface. It may be necessary to complement current evaluation practice with an evaluation of the deep groundwater response to earthquakes, especially if the deep groundwater is artesian and productive, with a relatively thin confining layer.