Viscoplastic finite element analysis of complex geotechnical problems

Abstract EN

The principles of elasto / viscoplastic finite element analysis were presented and explained, and the results and the analysis of some geotechnical problems were presented in this work.

Plasticity models such as von-Mises, Tresca, Drucker-Prager and Mohr-Coulomb models with associated and non-associated flow rules were incorporated in the viscoplastic algorithm.

The ultimate bearing capacity of a rigid surface footing on weightless clayey soil, Tresca material, predicted by the elasto / viscoplasticity approach agrees very well with that obtained by Prandtl exact solution (only 1 % above Prandtl exact solution).

Solution was also presented for complex problems with no available solution such as the problem of an anchor buried in sands (Mohr-Coulomb materials), where large zones within the soil domain are dominated by tensile stresses as well as sharp changes in shear stresses.