| Abstract: | A numerical technique has been implemented to perform strain path analyses for arbitrary three-dimensional (3D) penetrometers. The technique is based on that developed in aeronautical engineering for the calculation of incompressible potential flows about arbitrary 3D, non-lifting bodies. It uses a source-density distribution on the surface of the body and solves for the distribution necessary to make the normal component of fluid velocity zero on the boundary. The surface of a 3D body is approximated by a series of plane quadrilaterals, and the integral equation for the source density is replaced by a set of linear algebraic equations which are then solved for the source densities on the quadrilaterals. The displacements and strains are eventually derived based on these source densities. A series of strain-path analyses have been performed for cone and flat dilatometer penetrations. Results show that the soil responses to these two types of penetrometers are fundamentally different. |
