Simulation of excavation in a poro-elastic material

A method is presented which allows the computation of the displacements and pore pressures which are generated in an elastic soil when excavation is carried out. The formulation is based on Biot's theory and is fully coupled, with consideration also given to the effects of the lowering of the water table which often accompanies the excavation of soil. Example problems are solved to illustrate the theory which has been presented.