Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ZSOIL.PC
GETTING STARTED
by
Stéphane Commend, Rafal F. Obrzud,
Krzysztof Podleś, Andrzej Truty,
and Thomas Zimmermann
iii
Acknowledgments
Several engineering companies have contributed to the development of cus-
tom versions with scientific contributions, validations and financial support.
These include Bonnard & Gardel ingénieurs conseils SA, Lausanne, in partic-
ular F. Vuilleumier, who was instrumental in the organization of the financ-
ing of the 3D version in the early nineties. GEOS ingénieurs conseils SA,
Genève, GVH ingénieurs conseils SA, Tramelan, KBM, Sion, Schneller-Ritz
und Partner AG Ingenieurbüro, Brig, Stucky ingénieurs conseils SA, Renens,
and later Emch + Berger Ing. AG, Bern.
The financial support of the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innova-
tion (CTI) under grants 2672.1, 2387.1 and 2995.1, for 3D version 4, and
4182.1, for version 6, is acknowledged.
Parts of early developments of the 3D version were done at the Laboratory
of Structural and Continuum Mechanics (Prof. Th. Zimmermann & Prof.
F. Frey) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, with con-
tributions from the Laboratory of Rock Mechanics (Prof. F. Descoeudres),
and the Laboratory of Soil Mechanics (Prof. L. Vulliet). Ph. Menétrey
(EPFL) and P. Roelfstra (Intron) contributed to some theoretical models.
Th. Zimmermann supervised the development of the early versions with C.
Rodriguez and B. Dendrou as the main development architects. A. Truty
joined the development team in the mid-nineties and supervised the de-
velopment of recent versions with K. Podleś and A. Urbański as assistant
architects. The following individuals participated in the developments for
periods varying from one to several years: B. Rebora, J. Diaz, F. Delaraye,
M. Howe, E. Seker, S. Commend, W. Atamaz-Sibai, E. Davalle, L. Vernier,
W. Farra, B. Rutscho, B. Radic, A. Barry, D. Alvarez, Y. Li, A. Wróblewski,
A. Wiktor. Contributions to the validation process of the program, by the
following individuals, are acknowledged: U. Ekdahl, J.-L. Sarf, A. Bisetti, J.
L’Eplattenier, D. Tendon, M. Kharchafi, R. Gaerber, L. Laloui, V. Labiouse,
D. Collomb, S. Domon, C. Marzer, G. Roelfstra, C. Gindroz, F. Geiser, F.
Pellet, C. Carron, M. Favre, P. Mayu.
iv
Contents
Preface iii
Acknowledgments iv
1 GETTING STARTED 3
1.1 Hardware and software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Installation of ZSOIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Main menu of ZSOIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 An introduction to nonlinear analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5.1 Analysis of a superficial foundation . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5.2 Stability of a vertical cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 TRUSS STRUCTURES 17
2.1 Construction of stiffness matrix of single truss . . . . . . . . 18
2.2 Assembly of elemental stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3 Solution procedures for linear systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4 Using ZSOIL to analyze truss structures . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.1 Data Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.2 Running analysis and exploiting results . . . . . . . . 26
2.4.3 Imposed displacements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.5 Large displacements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.6 Collapse load analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.7 Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CONTENTS
2.7.1 Damping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.7.2 Time integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.7.3 Hilber-Hughes-Taylor algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.7.4 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
viii
CONTENTS
5 UNDERGROUND FLOW 99
5.1 A two-dimensional steady state flow problem . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2 Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2.1 Material data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.2.2 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.2.2.1 Pressure and flow boundary conditions . . . 105
5.2.2.2 Seepage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.2.2.3 Fluid head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3 An example of transient flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3.1 Preprocessing: geometry and boundary conditions . . 109
5.3.2 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.3.3 Material data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.3.4 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
ix
CONTENTS
x
CONTENTS
xi
CONTENTS
xii
CONTENTS
10 STRUCTURES 233
10.1 Trusses, Anchors, Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
10.1.1 Truss data under plane strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
10.2 Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
10.2.1 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
10.2.2 Adjusting beams to tunnel shapes . . . . . . . . . . 239
10.2.3 Offsetting stiffness of beams to match real tunnel axis 240
10.2.4 Hinges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
10.2.5 Cross-section geometry and materials . . . . . . . . 243
10.3 Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
10.3.1 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
10.3.2 Illustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
10.4 Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
10.4.1 Elastic simply supported uniformly loaded square plate247
10.4.2 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
10.4.3 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
10.4.4 Postprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
xiii
CONTENTS
B Dilatancy 269
References 274
xiv
Introduction
1
CONTENTS
GETTING STARTED
Contents
3
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
1. Install ZSOIL executables from download file (or from a pen drive de-
livered by ZACE, if applicable). To do that: run setup executable and
follow the instructions
Problems with more than 100’000 degrees of freedom are routinely solved
with ZSOIL but for the student version, problem size is limited to 8’000
nodes and the license excludes all forms of consulting, as stated on output
screens; the program also has a time limitation, but free renewals are avail-
able. Updates, if any, have to be downloaded from website www.zsoil.com
or www.zace.com.
ZSOIL opens on a front screen which gives access to Check for updates
and Continue. Press Continue.
The next screen to appear is a first preselection screen. Selection one of
analysis types creates a new project. In addition, the already created projects
can be opened by picking one from five recent projects or by clicking Open
project.
The next screen to appear after selection of analysis type is a preselection
screen. Activation of preferences will filter input screens in order to simplify
data preparation. Watch that option Basic is active, which means that only
the most common material models and analysis options can be activated.
This simplifies many input screens and most data discussed in this book
correspond to this Basic option. When needed, we will sometimes activate
5
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
Most geotechnical problems are nonlinear from the onset of loading, often
already under initial state conditions, this results from the constitutive char-
acteristics of soils. In fact, if we assume that there exists a linear range, it
is most of the time only for convenience.
Let us consider a superficial foundation and assume an elastic-perfectly plas-
tic constitutive material law (one-dimensional for the time being, see Fig.
1.5), at each point in the soil medium. When the load is increased on the
foundation, plastic yield will be reached successively at different locations
in the soil, at different time values, and the observed global response, will
be a nonlinear force displacement curve as shown in Fig. 1.5.
The nonlinear problem defined by F = N (d) will have to be solved step by
step (step counter: n) and iteratively (iteration counter: i); N (d) defines a
nonlinear function of displacement d.
7
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
9
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
on the side, fixed at the bottom Fig. 1.9. Red bars indicate imposed dis-
placement directions.
Under Assembly/Materials: 2 materials are defined, an elastic one for the
concrete footing, this requires definition of Young’s modulus E, and Pois-
son’s ratio ν, and a Mohr-Coulomb material for the ground, which requires,
in addition, specification of c, the cohesion, φ the friction angle, and ψ
the dilatancy angle (cf. Appendix B); here the zero value for dilatancy
corresponds to incompressible plastic flow (see Fig. 1.10, notice that the
’advanced’ input mode had to be activated to access dilatancy). The weight
of the soil is neglected in this example.
Under Analysis/Run Analysis: run the analysis, and observe the screen dur-
ing computation, Fig. 1.11, it contains information related to storage allo-
cation and situation of the convergence of the nonlinear iterative procedure;
finally we get a message end of computation see log file. The log file contains
information about convergence; we will look at it later.
11
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
Use + / - keys to
change time steps
Figure 1.12: Plane strain footing: displacement vectors at failure (diverged step).
Measurement node -
13
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
Remarks:
• if the failure mechanism is still not well visible or local instabilities are
observed try to reduce the increment of safety factor and restart analysis
15
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
TRUSS STRUCTURES
Contents
17
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
The characteristics of this structure are its length L, section A and elastic
modulus E. Static equilibrium requires that we fix this structure at one
end at least, and we apply a force Fext at the other end. Now, we write
equilibrium at the loaded end, which requires internal and external forces to
be in equilibrium:
EAd
Fint = Fext and Fint = σ · A = E · ε · A = (2.1)
L
1 0 −1 0 d0x
F0x
0 0 0 0
d0y = F0y
k
−1 (2.3)
0 1 d1x
0 F1x
0 0 0 0 d1y F1y
Figure 2.3: Skew truss in 2D space (c and s are the cosine and sine of angle θ)
19
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Example 2.1:
Remarks:
Nodal reactions can then be computed using the equations, abandoned ear-
lier, which correspond to degrees of freedom (dofs) subject to boundary
conditions.
We will need, however, solution techniques which are applicable to a larger
number of unknowns.
21
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Consider Example 2.1 again. Open ZSOIL and select 2D/Frames only as
project pre-selection (Fig. 2.6). The role of this pre-selection is to initialize
coming up input screens, restricting them to entities relevant to the problem
being solved. The pre-selection can be modified any time later on.
CONTROL/DRIVERS
Next, define the analysis driver. Open Control/Drivers (Fig. 2.7).
Time dependent/driven load over 1 time step is automatically selected. The
role of this driver is to manage time, real (requires units) or fictive (used
to sequence operations without specified time units); here it is fictive, the
analysis starts at time t = 0 and computes a solution at each time step until
time tend is reached.
For this particular case, we have 1 step and this is sufficient for a linear
elastic structure subjected to a static load.
Remarks:
ASSEMBLY/PREPROCESSING
Open Assembly/Preprocessing. Introduce 3 truss elements, FE Model/Truss/
2 nodes-points. Attribute material numbers (e.g. 1 for oblique trusses & 2
for horizontal truss). If needed, you can modify them later, using Parameters
(Fig. 2.8).
Introduce fully fixed boundary conditions at the left node and a sliding
boundary condition at the right node (Fig. 2.9), specifying On node for
new data, or Update/Parameters for existing ones. Impose load at bottom
node (Fig. 2.10), On node for new data, or Update/Parameters for existing
one. Move to File/Exit and click Yes when prompted if you want to save
changes.
ASSEMBLY/MATERIALS
Two materials have to be defined under Assembly/Materials, the first one
for oblique trusses (Fig. 2.11), the second one for horizontal truss.
Data needed for oblique trusses are:
Elastic modulus E = 10 0000 000 kN/m2
Area A = 0.0005657 m2
And for horizontal truss:
Elastic modulus E = 10 0000 000 kN/m2
Area A = 0.0008 m2
23
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Figure 2.8: Defining Input of trusses and specification of materials for truss ele-
ments.
25
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
ANALYSIS/RUN ANALYSIS
The solution procedure is quasi-instantaneous, no need to discuss it now.
RESULTS/INFO/On node
Results confirm previous ones (Fig. 2.12).
Figure 2.12: Results for the node 3 (2 in problem definition), using Info/Node
results.
Note that the load function number 0 is a default, and constant, equal to 1.
This load function is associated with the external load (see Fig. 2.10).and
load function number 1 with the moving boundary condition, under Assem-
bly/Load function (Fig. 2.14). Observe that the load function numbers are
associated with the load or the boundary conditions in the preprocessor (Fig.
2.15) and are defined as function of time under Assembly/Load function.
Figure 2.14: Load functions: 0 (default) - associated with the external load, and
1 (custom) - associated with the vertical displacement of node 3.
Remarks:
- with steps of amplitude 1 the load alone will be taken into account at
step 1, load and imposed displacement at step 2. Refinement of the
time step increment will lead to progressive application of the imposed
displacement.
ANALYSIS/RUN ANALYSIS
As in the previous analysis.
RESULTS
Let us compare stress resultants in the trusses between step 1 and 2 in
order to observe the influence of the support settlement at node 3. Select
27
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
reference and current time step under Time, and activate result browsing
by selecting Info/Elements resultsand pick one of the trusses (Fig. 2.16).
Notice that the difference of stress resultants between step 1 and 2 is zero,
meaning that there is no influence within the framework of theory of small
deformation.
Figure 2.16: Stress results between steps 1 and 2 (influence of the vertical dis-
placement imposed on node 3).
Open the data file prepared for the small displacement problem
(Ex 2 1 trussStruct.inp), and save it under Ex 2 1 trussStruct laDisp.inp.
Now, you can activate large displacements as demonstrated in Fig. 2.17.
Results are compared for the 2 different values of E moduli, the first one
leading to small elongations (typically less than L/100), and the second one
29
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Remarks:
Figure 2.18: Definition of the load function associated with the displacement.
Remarks:
31
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
2.7 Dynamics
Analyzing the system presented in Example 2.1 under dynamic loading is
also easy using ZSOIL. The linear system to be solved is not any more of
the static form:
Kd = F (2.6)
Ma + Kd = F (2.7)
where M denotes the mass matrix, and a is the vector of nodal acceleration
components.
Assuming that mass is concentrated at both ends of each truss, we guess
that for a single element, in the 1-dimensional case, the lumped mass matrix
Using one form or the other is not completely indifferent, the 1st form
underestimates eigenfrequencies, the 2nd overestimates them, but we will
come back to this later.
Remarks:
- For a skew truss the same transformations as for the stiffness matrix apply
to the mass matrix.
2.7.1 Damping
Ma + Cv + Kd = F (2.10)
with C being a viscous damping matrix, and v the nodal velocity compo-
nents.
Rayleigh damping is the most commonly adopted form for C; it corresponds
to a linear combination of the mass and stiffness matrices:
C = α0 M + β 0 K (2.11)
33
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Figure 2.22: Newmark’s algorithm for time integration: time-step and parameters
input.
a spring fixed at one end with a mass at the other end. At time tn+1 the
35
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
∆t2
dn+1 = dn + ∆tvn + [(1 − 2β) an + 2βan+1 ] (2.14a)
2
- Notice that the dynamic problem is still linear unless material nonlinearity
or large displacements are activated.
2.7.4 Example
Let us consider Example 2.1 once again. We will now add a lumped mass
M = 400 kg at node 2 (Fig. 2.24), and we apply an initial displacement pro-
portional to the static loading case: (d2x , d2y , d3x ) = (−0.002, −0.01, −0.004)
(see Fig. 2.25).
The system has 2 dynamic DOFs (d2x , d2y ) and 1 DOF without associated
mass, i.e. d3x .
The corresponding input file is Ex 2 1 trussStruct dynIC.inp.
As DRIVER, the default implicit Newmark’s algorithm is used (with γ = 0.5
37
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
and β = 0.25), and ∆t = 0.1 s (see Fig. 2.26). Notice that 2 drivers
are defined, the first one introduces a very small time step for the system
in order to restore the equilibrium as soon as possible after imposed initial
conditions which often are not in equilibrium.
- Small and large deformation assumptions give the same result for the
above data. They would be different if a large displacement is imposed
as initial condition.
Exercise 2.2
Build the stiffness corresponding to the following structure and solve the
corresponding linear system using the ZSOIL’s external solver (see A).
Compare obtained solution with the same problem solved with ZSOIL
(file Ex 2 2 trussStruct.inp).
39
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
References
Chopra, A. (1995). Dynamics of structures. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle
River, NJ.
41
CHAPTER 2. TRUSS STRUCTURES
Contents
43
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
If the medium is elastic, then Hooke’s law applies which can be stated as:
Expanding Hooke’s law for the isotropic 2 and 3-dimensional cases, we ob-
tain, in matrix form:
45
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
σ λ + 2G λ λ 0 0 0 ε
x
x
σy λ λ + 2G λ 0 0 0 εy
σ
z λ λ λ + 2G 0 0 0 εz
=
τ yz
0
0 0 G 0 0
γ yz
τ zx
0 0 0 0 G 0 γ zx
τ
xy
0 0 0 0 0 G γ xy
NB. γ xy = 2εxy
σz = ν (σ x + σ y )
Table 3.3: Hooke’s law, plane stress (only in ZSOIL custom version)
σz = τ xy = τ yz = 0
ε 1/E −ν/E 0 σx
x
=
ε y −ν/E 1/E 0 σ y
γ
xy
0 0 1/G τ xy
E ν
σ x
(1 − ν 2 ) E 0 εx
(1 − ν 2 )
=
ν E
σ y
E 0 ε y
(1 − ν 2 ) (1 − ν 2 )
τ xy 0 0 G
γ xy
ν
εz = − (εx + εy )
(1 − ν)
Only two constants are needed for isotropic elasticity, but different pairs can
be used (see Table 3.4).
νE 3K − 2µ
Lame parameter λ λ
(1 + ν)(1 − 2ν) 3
E
Kirchhoff’s modulus G=µ µ µ
2(1 + ν)
µ(3λ + 2µ) 9Kµ
Young’s modulus E E
λ+µ 3K + µ
E(1 − ν)
Oedometric modulus Eoed − −
(1 + ν)(1 − 2ν)
λ 3K − 2µ
Poisson’s coefficient ν ν
2(λ + µ) 2(3K + µ)
3λ + 2µ E
Bulk modulus K K
3 3(1 − 2µ)
47
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
Remarks:
3.1.1 Invariants
1h i
= (σ xx − σ yy )2 + (σ yy − σ zz )2 + (σ zz − σ xx )2 + τ 2xy + τ 2yz + τ 2zx
6
1h i
σ 2q = (σ xx − σ yy )2 + (σ yy − σ zz )2 + (σ zz − σ xx )2 + 6 τ 2xy + τ 2yz + τ 2zx
2
1h i
= (σ 1 − σ 2 )2 + (σ 2 − σ 3 )2 + (σ 3 − σ 1 )2
2
- Lode’s angle:
σ 1 − 2σ 2 + σ 3
θ = tan−1 √
3(σ 1 − σ 3 )
- plane strain invariants:
1 1
σs = (σ xx + σ yy ) = (σ 1 + σ 2 )
2
q 2
σd = (σ xx − σ yy )2 + 4τ 2xy = σ 1 − σ 2
49
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
F (σ, h) = 0 (3.10)
3. A flow rule. The plastic strain increment direction will be governed by:
∂G(σ)
∆ε = dλ (3.11)
∂σ
where defines the plastic potential, defines the direction of plastic flow,
normal to , is the plastic multiplier which defines the amplitude of plas-
tic flow. When we have associative plasticity, otherwise non-associative
plasticity.
Ḟ (σ) = 0 (3.12)
completes the formulation and will be used to define the amplitude of plastic
flow via dλ. It expresses that the stress point remains on the yield surface
during plastic flow. This point is essential for theory and implementation
but not for applications, see ZSOIL manuals for more details.
|τ | = σ n tan φ + c (3.13)
Remarks:
σ 1 >= σ 2
(3.15)
σ 2 >= σ 3
F2 = σ 1 − f t (3.16)
51
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
Drucker-Prager and von Mises criteria are slightly more convenient for
numerical implementation than Mohr-Coulomb.
The criterion proposed by Drucker and Prager as an approximation of the
Mohr-Coulomb can be written:
or alternatively:
p
F ≡ aφ I1 + J2 − k = 0 (3.17b)
Figure 3.6: Direction of plastic flow, with respect to yield criterion and plastic
potential.
53
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
and typically
ψ∼
= 0 to 0.25φ : in absence of detailed data
55
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
In order to formulate our finite element method we first build a weak (in-
tegral) form of the equilibrium equation. If equilibrium is true as stated by:
where the dia are nodal displacement values, and Na are interpolation func-
tions, see Fig. 3.10.
An identical interpolation is used for w:
4
X
wih = Na cai (3.23)
a=1
57
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
where cai are nodal values of arbitrary w test functions. Invoking arbitrari-
ness of w (think of it as of virtual displacements), we can then deduce the
matrix form of equilibrium.
The first integral will generate the stiffness term, a square matrix of coef-
ficients multiplied by the vector of unknown nodal displacements Kd, the
second the body force term Ff , a vector of given nodal forces and the third
the surface traction term Fσ , also a vector of given nodal forces, i.e. :
Kd = Ff + Fσ with
Z
Kd = BT σdΩ (3.24)
Z Ω
K= BT DBdΩ
Ω
and:
ε = Bd
(3.25)
σ = Dε = DBd
D was given above for plane strain, plane stress and 3D, matrix forms details
can be found in text books on finite elements and ZSOIL manuals.
K will be symmetric for elasticity and associative plasticity; it will be non-
symmetric for non-associative plasticity and large displacements.
where ∆t is the time increment, and n is the time increment (real or ficti-
tious) counter.
At each time value, a nonlinear problem must be solved, iteratively; with i
as iteration counter, we write:
N di+1
n+1 = Fn+1 (3.28)
This expression can be linearized using a Taylor expansion:
for each n
KT ∆d = Fn+1 − din+1
(3.30)
di+1 i
n+1 = dn+1 + ∆d
59
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
the default nonlinear solver used as the first one for any 3D analysis. This
is crucial to save the CPU time for large nonlinear computations. Spe-
cial attention has to be paid in case of dynamic computations in which
level of nonlinearities can be relatively low. In this specific case, the user
should predefine his own settings and choose the Initial stiffness solver as
the starting one. In some cases, such as steady/transient seepage or steady
state/transient thermal analyses, selection of nonlinear solvers will be en-
forced internally by the calculation module ignoring user’s selection.
3.4.1 Convergence
k=1
61
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
- Convergence tolerances have to be set separately for each phase, i.e. for
solid phase, liquid phase, structures and interfaces, respectively.
let Fext
1 = FΓ , gravity and t0 loads
Z
K∆d = BT ∆σdΩ = FΓ ; compute ∆d due to gravity
Ω
d = ∆d1 + ∆d2 = 0; σ = σ 0 + ∆σ 1 + ∆σ 2 = σ γ + σ γ − σ γ = σ γ
The initial state procedure is automated in ZSOIL (Fig. 3.14). The initial
state driver, under CONTROL/Drivers applies gravity step by step starting
63
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
with a user defined gravity load multiplier of 0.5 e.g., and raising it up to 1
by steps of amplitude 0.1 e.g. The idea is to apply gravity progressively in
order to avoid initiating too much plasticity at once.
Remarks:
- Certain constitutive models for soils (like Cam-Clay) require the initial
guess for initial effective stresses to be set by the user (option Initial
conditions/Initial stresses)
- Setting the initial guess for the initial effective stresses can be beneficial
for cases when a poor quality mesh is used
1 h2 Eoed k
∆t ≥ with cv = (3.32)
4 θcv γw
65
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
Figure 3.17: Element setup to allow avoiding locking effect and pressure oscilla-
tions.
References
Hughes, T. (1987). The Finite Element Method. Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
Truty, A. and Zimmermann, T. (2006). Stabilized mixed finite element
formulations for materially nonlinear partially saturated two-phase media.
Comp Meth Appl Mech Engng, 195:1517–1546.
Vermeer, P. and Verruijt, A. (1981). An accuracy condition for consolidation
by finite elements. Int J Num Anal Meth Geomech, 5:1–14.
67
CHAPTER 3. LINEAR AND NONLINEAR CONTINUA
Contents
69
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
In this chapter three problems which are typical of geotechnical works are
analysed, i.e. bearing capacity of foundations, slope stability, and initial
state definition, respectively.
ASSEMBLY/Preprocessing
Geometry, boundary conditions, loads, and materials are defined here. Enter
the geometrical preprocessor by selecting menu option Assembly/ Prepro-
cessing. First, switch off the axes (press the A key or use Visibility dialog
box). Use mouse wheel in order to change zoom in such way to have ac-
cess to grid points at X = 0 m, X = 15 m, Y = 0 m, and Y = −15 m,.
Next, use Rectangle method from Draw pane to define the rectangle be-
tween points (0; 0) and (15; −15) as shown in Fig. 4.1A. Then create
next rectangle between points (0; 0) and (7; −6) and activate Run inter-
section automatically and do not show this query again checkbox in Object
intersection dialog box (see Fig. 4.1B).
Use the zoom tool located on the right hand side of the screen (see
Fig. 4.1C) , in order to zoom left-top corner of the domain and create next
71
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
rectangle between points (0; 0.4) and (1; 0) (see Fig. 4.1D).
Press CTRL-F to optimize the zoom.
Select option Macro Model/Subdomain/Create/Continuum inside contour,
and click successively inside of the 3 subdomains. Click on Update/ Param-
eters and assign Initial material number 2 to the subdomain which defines
the footing.
Now, select the Mesh/Create virtual mesh method and click inside the sub-
domain defining the footing. Structured mesh type is selected by default,
as this subdomain has four control points. Set Edge 1-2 split to 5 and Edge
1-4 split to 4. Then click on Create virtual mesh. Then, click inside of the
subdomain under the footing, set split 35 in horizontal direction, and split 30
in vertical direction. Click on Create virtual mesh. Finally, click inside of the
remaining subdomain, select unstructured mesh type, and set approximate
element size to 0.85 m. Click on Create virtual mesh, and Close.
Select Mesh/Virtual → Real mesh method and click successively inside of
the 3 subdomains (see Fig. 4.1) or select all subdomains before clicking on
Mesh/Virtual → Real mesh .
Then, move to FE model/Boundary Conditions/Solid BC/On box in order
to automatically create displacement boundary conditions around the soil
domain.
Figure 4.2: Preprocessing of footing problem: generating the finite element mesh.
The geometry of the load, location and initial amplitude, is defined with the
preprocessor. As the foundation is considered as rigid, it does not matter
whether a uniformly distributed or an isolated nodal load is introduced.
Therefore, move to FE model/Loads/Nodal Loads/On Node method, click
on the upper-left node of the footing, and define FY = −1, and load
function = 1.
Remarks:
- in case of unwanted operation, you may always cancel the last (five)
action(s) using Windows Menu Command Edit/Undo.
You can now exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work (File/Save
model and return to Main Menu).
ASSEMBLY/Load-time function
73
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
When the load geometry is defined load-time function number 1 was as-
sociated with it. The time-evolution of the load in time is handled by a
load function Assembly/Load function (Fig.4.3), which multiplies the value
entered in the geometric definition of the load such that :
A unit load P = [0, −1] was applied in direction (-Y) which will increase
from 0 (actually 1) to 30, as time (fictitious) increases, unless divergence
occurs and an ultimate load is found.
ASSEMBLY/Drivers
Time dependent/Driven load driver is activated for an analysis running from
time 0 to 30 with steps of 1 [day] (Fig. 4.4). In fact the unit is unimportant
here, this driver will increment time (fictitious time here: time steps are
simply load steps, no units involved).
For such definition of load function and driver, load increment for each time
step is 100 kN. In order to obtain more exact level of load bearing capacity
control and algorithmic parameters will be changed. Press button placed in
Nonl. solver settings column. Control dialog will be opened with Default
We assume that the foundation itself is elastic, weightless and fairly rigid.
The input material data are as follows:
Elastic modulus E = 300 0000 000 kN/m2
75
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
Cohesion c = 15 kN/m2
Dilatancy angle ψ = 5o
Remarks:
ANALYSIS/Run analysis
Once data has been prepared, the analysis can begin, ANALYSIS/Run Anal-
ysis, the *.inp file will be completed and mapped to the *.dat file (data
file in the format suitable for the calculation module). Data check will be
performed before the run starts.
4.1.2 Results
The analysis fails to converge at time step 20, c.f. Fig. ??. The last
converged solution was obtained at the previous step and this corresponds
to the load bearing capacity. Displacement vectors at diverged step give
only an indication about the failure mechanism.
The corresponding ultimate load can be calculated by first reading load-time
function value reached at the last converged step and second multiplying it
by the load defined in the geometrical screen, hence:
LF(step19.75) = 10 975
Figure 4.6: Displacement vectors and the time log, under Graph op-
tion/displacement vectors, and Time/Select time
the right hand side (RHS), a measure of the applied load increment. In the
same column, in the following lines, it can be notice that this norm of the
RHS evolves during iterations. The 2nd column represents the same values,
but normed by 1.000E + 02, the initial RHS norm. At the last iteration the
convergence criteria must be satisfied and indeed, this is the case at step 1
and iteration 2, 3.144E −12 < 1.000E −02, which is the tolerance of out-of
balance on the right-hand-side. At step 2 it takes 3 iterations to satisfy the
convergence condition and, at failure, it is not satisfied after 16 iterations.
The other columns give indications about convergence in the energy norm,
incremental and total.
Finally, the displacement time-history indicates an unstable vertical displace-
ment. For that, go to Results/Postprocessing/Graph Option/Nodal time-
history, pick any node below the footing, and under Settings/Graph. Con-
tents, select Displacement-Y for vertical axis (see Fig. 4.10), observe that
the vertical displacement increments in each step tend to increase when
getting closer to the ultimate load.
77
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
Figure 4.7: Ultimate load as the function of maximum LF value reached in the
analysis.
Figure 4.9: Investigation of analysis failure (divergence) with the aid of log file.
4.1.4 Validation
79
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
The algorithm is pictured in Table 4.1. Starting from the definition of the
safety factor and the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion (here stress τ y ), we can
easily establish that the safety factor of a given slope can be assessed by
simply dividing cohesion and (tangent of) friction angle by a factor which
increases progressively from 1 to a value corresponding to onset of global
81
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
instability. The strict equivalence of this approach with the more traditional
kinematic approach will however be true only when SF is reasonably close
to 1.
R
Γ
τ y dΓs
Assume: SF = R s
Γs
τ dΓs
with: τ y = c + σ n tan φ
R
Z
Γ
τ y dΓs Z
c tan φ
then: τ dΓs = s = + σn dΓs
Γs SF Γs SF SF
Algorithm:
c
1. set c∗ =
SF
tan φ
tan φ∗ =
SF
Remarks:
Alternative formulations are possible for more general criteria. With stress
written as σ ij = (σ kk /3)δ ij + sij , SF can be defined as the maximum value
of the stress level κ which can be applied uniformly over the domain to:
ZSOIL data for this problem require specification of a driver, geometric and
material data. Control data are left to default values.
ZSOIL DATA: Ex 4 2 cut.inp
We have a Plane Strain, Deformation (i.e. 1-phase) problem, no advanced
option, no preprocessed preliminary analysis (see Fig. 4.14, driver selection).
Stability/tan(phi)-c driver starts at 1, ends at 2, with a step of 0.05. This
driver will increment the safety factor SF, from 1 to 2 with steps of 0.05,
in a c − φ reduction algorithm, until failure is reached.
Remarks:
83
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
will start with the c − φ values reached; for any other driver, c and φ are
reinitialized to their initial values.
As for the footing case, geometry and boundary conditions are first defined
in the Assembly/Preprocessing menu. Then, materials are defined in the
Assembly/Materials screen.
Soil is considered as Mohr-Coulomb material, characterized by:
Weight γ = 16 kN/m3 (Fig. 4.15)
Cohesion c = 16 kN/m2
Dilatancy angle ψ = 0o
4.2.3 Results
In the second step, the obtained safety factor can be refined, by starting a
second stability driver, see Fig. 4.19, starting at the last converged step of
85
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
the previous analysis (SF = 1.50) and a refined increment (∆SF = 0.01).
Remarks:
The finally obtained safety factor is 1.53, which corresponds to the last
converged step after step refinement and restart.
Figure 4.21: Specyfing material which does not support tensile stresses.
The corresponding safety factor obtained is 1.15 (last converged step), which
could be refined again (see Fig. 4.22). The corresponding analytical solution
is given by Therzaghi (1951, citation of Fellenius):
s
Hcrit 2.67 · c 2 o
φ
SF = = tan 45 + = 1.15 (4.4)
H γ·H 2
87
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
Figure 4.22: Identified failure mechanism (diverged step SF = 1.15) for the ma-
terial with the active Rankine’s criterion.
and it might be preferable to start with the initial state analysis. This is
demonstrated below.
ZSOIL data for this problem require specification of two drivers (see Fig.
4.23), no other changes are needed. Geometric and material data are the
same as before. Control data are left to default values.
Open the Ex 4 2 cut.inp and save it as Ex 4 2 cut IS.inp
Open the Drivers screen and 1 click with right mouse button on first line.
As the result new line with driver will be added, 2 change driver type from
Stability to Initial State
Remarks:
- The safety factor obtained in this case is the same as obtained earlier.
The only difference lies in the progressive application of gravity which
helps avoiding early instabilities.
4.2.6 Validation
Figure 4.23: Setup for a stability analysis preceded by an initial state analysis.
89
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
c
γ·H Bishop of slices circle procedure
4.3.1 Algorithm
Initial state evaluation is very important in soil mechanics because the initial
stress state often lies very close to the plastic yield limit, which is obvious
if you think of a natural slope inclined at angle β, close to the material
friction angle φ. The procedure to simulate the initial state is such that the
correct stress-state corresponding gravity loads superposed with all other
loads which are non-zero at time zero are associated with a zero deformation
state corresponding to the observed topography. This can be achieved by
ignoring deformations during the initial state evaluation or by superposition
of gravity and associated loads with the initial stress state corresponding to
gravity stresses and associated loads. The second approach is adopted in
ZSOIL.
This initial state procedure is illustrated Fig. 4.25 with gravity applied to
a box-shaped medium with free surface; it can also be followed through in
ZSOIL with the set of input files BOXDi.inp. The first case, BOXD1.inp
corresponds to gravity applied to a box shaped medium with free surface;
the upper surface will settle and a confinement stress is developed.
The second case, BOXD2.inp corresponds to a vertical initial stress state
which, if equal to the gravity induced stress, generates a surface movement
and a confinement stress equal and opposite in sign to the previous one.
A confinement stress can then be applied, corresponding to any desirable
K0 state, BOXD3.inp. Superposing gravity, initial stress induced by gravity
and a K0 state produces the desired initial state, BOXD4.inp. The whole
procedure is automated in ZSOIL, as illustrated by BOXD5.inp.
Application of the procedure to a real case is illustrated below.
91
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
deadweight γ downwards
σ 2 = −γh;
ν
1 σ1 = σ3 = − γh; BOXD1.INP
1−ν
γh 2ν 2
ε2 = − (1 − );
E 1−ν
σ 01 = −0.5γh σ 1 = σ 01 ;
3 σ 2 = σ 3 = 0; BOXD3.INP
ε2 = 0;
σ 02 = −γh σ 1 = σ 3 = K0 σ 02
4 BOXD4.INP
σ 01 = K0 σ 02 ; = −K0 γh;
σ 03 = K0 σ 02 ; ε2 = 0;
Figure 4.26: Site with two existing constructions, box type boundary conditions
and load on right building.
93
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
The Stability driver is used finally to define the safety factor of the site after
elevation of the right building.
Figure 4.27: Setup of analysis drivers: Initial state, Time Dependent/Driven load,
followed by Stability.
Figure 4.28: Site with two existing constructions, box type boundary conditions
and load on right building.
As for the footing and the vertical cut case, geometry, loads
(via FE Model/Loads/Surface Loads/2 Nodes(variable) option in the pre-
processing phase) and boundary conditions are first defined in the Assem-
bly/Preprocessing menu.
Then, materials are defined in the Assembly/Materials screen. For soil we
have 2 weighting Mohr-Coulomb materials (numbers 2 & 3), for the build-
ings 1 weighting Elastic material (number 1).
Select Analysis/Run Analysis in order to run the analysis.
4.3.3 Results
During increasing load deformations build up, mainly under the right build-
ing (Fig. 4.31), Options/Maps & Settings/Graph contents/Nodal quanti-
ties/displacement/ABS, at time t = 3 (you may use +/− keys to navigate
through time steps).
95
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
97
CHAPTER 4. SINGLE PHASE SOLID CONTINUA
References
Salençon, J. and Matar, M. (1979). Capacité portante des semelles filantes.
Revue française de géotechnique, 9:51–76.
Therzaghi, K. (1951). Mécanique théorique des sols. Dunod, Paris.
UNDERGROUND FLOW
Contents
99
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
Under Assembly/Preprocessing, you will find the mesh and specified bound-
ary conditions. There are 3 types of boundary conditions:
- ”no flow” on the upper and lower edge; this is a default boundary condi-
tion, which does not need any input.
101
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
Remarks:
- The free surface does not change too significantly in this problem, when
kv is changed, but the outflow does. When kv is increased permeability
and therefore outflow increases.
- The free surface corresponds to zero pressure, pressures above the free
surface are positive, but their contribution to total stress in the medium
is multiplied by the saturation, so that the effective water pressure above
the free surface is in fact zero: σ tot 0 ∼
ij = σ ij + Spδ ij and Sp = 0 above the
free surface.
5.2 Theory
Underground Darcy flow is governed by a diffusion equation, expressed here
in terms of pressure as the nodal unknown. The equations for partially sat-
urated Darcy flow are given in Table 5.1. The approach adopted in ZSOIL
considers that the flow domain coincides with the soil domain, always, sat-
uration will ultimately define the limits of flow. The formulation accounts
103
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
for partial saturation and the free surface corresponds to the p = 0 line in
Fig. 5.7.
In Table 5.1, the continuity equation expresses that a local source induces
a divergent flow divergence and a local time-dependent pressure variation.
The flow conditions can be transient, in this case all terms of the continuity
equation are active, or steady state, in which case there is no pressure change
in time and the corresponding term in the equation, cṗ, can be ignored.
If the flow is confined, the medium fully saturated, and the flow condition
steady, then the problem is linear; it can be solved in a single step without
iterations. But most of the time the exact position of the free surface is
unknown a priori, it is part of the problem to be solved, the problem becomes
therefore nonlinear and iterations are needed even for the steady state flow,
a fortiori within each time-step in the transient case.
Material data needed include Darcy’s coefficient k, and γ F , the fluid’s spe-
cific weight, in the basic version; all other parameters are selected by default.
In the advanced version the fluid compressibility β F and two new coefficients
are introduced, 1/α [m], a measure of the thickness of the transition from
full saturation to residual saturation, and Sr which is the second parameter.
Material data α and Sr depend strongly on the granulometric structure of
the medium, values taken from literature are given in Table 5.3.
Remarks:
v - Darcy velocity
p - pressure
f - source
p
− + z - pressure head
γF
kij - permeability coefficients, often kij = kδ ij
kr - permeability reduction, function of saturation S, (kr = 1 if S = 1)
105
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
bottom, this condition is natural, it is applied ”by default”, like the zero
surface traction present by default in deformation analysis.
Type of soil α Sr
Medium Sand 10 0
Fine Sand 8 0
5.2.2.2 Seepage
107
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
Table 5.4: Equation of seepage boundary condition Aubry and Ozanam (1988)
Remarks:
trace (k)
- kv = 106 is automaticaly set by the code while user may apply
γ F he
an extra multiplier to that value (by default multiplier is set to 1.0); he
is an equivalent size of adjacent continuum element
- You can either follow the description of the mesh and boundary conditions
creation below, or open ZSOIL data: Ex 5 2 FillDrawDown2D.inp.
109
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
Select Mesh/Virtual− >Real mesh method and click inside of the subdo-
main. Hide the macro model by clicking MACRO column in Visibility dialog
box.
Select the edges along the two vertical faces of the domain using the tool
identified with a red arrow in Fig. 5.11 and clicking successively on the top
and bottom nodes of the boundaries. Move to FE Model/Seepage/Create/
On edge(s). Set seepage material number = 2. Choose Unselect All method
from Global selection tools panel.
Select option FE Model/Node/Outline/In zoom box and select all nodes be-
longing to the left boundary of the domain. Move to FE Model/Boundary
Condition/Pressure BC/Fluid head on selected nodes. Set fluid head = 1 m
and load function = 1 (see Fig. 5.12). Move to menu Selections/Unselect
All.
5.3.2 Drivers
111
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
Remarks:
Figure 5.14: Load function associated with water level on the left boundary
Flow under transient state requires the permeability tensor kij (which can be
oriented is space), and γ F , the fluid unit weight, specification, in addition,
due to possible partial saturation, (1/α) [m] the thickness of the transition
from full to residual saturation, and Sr the residual saturation must be
specified. Other data default or not, can again be ignored.
5.3.4 Results
- In Fig. 5.16, pore pressures scale has been set to min = -1 and max = 0
in order to identify clearly the free surface, corresponding to zero pressure.
113
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
References
Aubry, D. and Ozanam, O. (1988). Free surface tracking through non-
saturated models. In Swoboda, editor, Numerical methods in geome-
chanics, volume 1, pages 757–763, Innsbruck. Balkema, Rotterdam.
115
CHAPTER 5. UNDERGROUND FLOW
TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Contents
117
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Drivers and analysis type for this problem are shown in Fig. 6.2 and Fig.
6.3. Axisymmetric or plane strain analysis are both appropriate for this
problem and yield the same solution. The axisymmetric case is analyzed
here. Problem is defined as Deformation + Flow (see Fig. 6.2). Drivers
are Initial State followed by Time Dependent/Consolidation. Consolidation
corresponds, we will see it later, to a fully coupled problem. The initial state
analysis generates the gravity pressure state in the sample. The problem is
linear and can be solved in 1 step. As a result, pressure varies linearly from
0 at the surface to −100 N/m2 at the bottom. After having run the analysis
(Analysis/Run Analysis), you may use Postprocessing/Graph Option/Maps,
119
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Figure 6.2: Project preselection: Analysis and Problem types for consolidation
problem.
Remarks:
h2
∆t must satisfy: ∆t ≥ γ c
θcv
γ c = 1/4 : ZSOIL
E, ν : elastic constants
must be high), Darcy’s coefficients, e0 and the weight/unit volume are the
data needed as shown in Fig. 6.6. As we have full saturation, α and Sr are
not needed.
Results are illustrated in the next 2 figures. Fig. 6.7 illustrates the initial,
gravity induced pore pressure distribution; use Results/Postprocessing/Graph
Option/Sectional Quantities, Time/Select current time step = 0, Sections/
Sec. Planes (2D) between (0.5; 10) and (0.5; 0) then click Add and Set-
121
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
t = 0.
Figure 6.8: Results: overpressure distribution at time 0.02 day (max) and 80 day
(after consolidation).
Remarks:
123
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
6.2 Theory
The equations of fully coupled 2-phase totally or partially saturated media
are summarized in Table 6.2 and Table 6.3. Different degrees of coupling
between the solid and the fluid behavior can be distinguished and they are
illustrated on the problem of stability of a vertical cut in presence of a water
table or flow. We will see that some cases can be handled as single phase,
while other require a two-phase analysis.
Figure 6.9: Pore pressure pw and surface load σ v induced by water table.
The presence of a water table induces pore pressures, but also, when the
water table is located above the ground surface, a surface compression which
applies as a total stress on the surface of the two-phase medium and must
be specified as boundary condition, see Fig. 6.9. As a result effective stress
at the soil surface will be ”0”.
A simple two-phase (deformation+flow) test problem illustrates the case
(Ex 6 2 BoxWT.inp). Consider a box-shaped medium and the following
data: water table: hw = 2 m; Poisson’s ratio: ν = 0.2; soil: γ sat =
22 kN/m3 ; water: γ w = 10 kN/m3 .
The stress state at a depth of 6 m below ground surface is, Fig. 6.10:
σ 0v = −pw · [σ v ] = [−γ sat hsat − γ w hw ] + γ w (hw + hsat )
= −γ b hsat = −72 kN/m2
ν
σ 0h = σ 0 = −18 kN/m2
1−ν v
pw = −80 kN/m2
1. σ 0ij + Spδ ij
,j
+ fi = 0 : equilibrium
F
2. S ε̇kk + vk,k − cṗ = 0 : continuity
σ 0ij : effective stress
S : saturation ratio
p : pore pressure (+ in tension
δ ij : Kronecker’s delta
fi : solid body forces
ε̇kk : volumetric strain rate in skeleton
F
vk,k : divergence of fluid velocities
nS dS
c : storage coefficient c = −
KF dp
n : porosity
βF : fluid bulk modulus
ṗ : pressure time derivative
Remarks:
- Saturation ration is a function of pore pressure S = S(p).
e
- Porosity n = , e0 is user defined
1+e
125
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
∗ p
qi = −kij − + z ,j , Darcy flow
γF
∗
kij = kr (S)kij
3
(S − Sr ) 1
kr = 3 ="
(1 − Sr ) 2 #3/2
p
1+ α
γF
Table 6.4: Single phase (deformation) total stress analysis governing equa-
tions.
σ ij +
S pδ ij ,j + fi = 0 : equilibrium
specify: (γ D )bi : above water table
specify: (γ SAT )bi : below water table
bi : gravity direction vector
F (( (
S ε̇( +(
kk( vk,k
(( −(cṗ = 0 : continuity
(
Remarks:
- Pore pressures must be explicitly specified in saturated domain using su-
perelements, in preprocesor.
127
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Mesh and box solid boundary conditions are generated as usual. The pres-
ence of the water table requires:
6.3.1.3 Materials
Fluid data needed for this problem are: fluid pressure field and surface
pressure on submerged surface.
The introduction of different values of specific weight above (γ dry ) and
below (γ sat ) the water surface requires specification of 2 materials. Both
correspond to the same Mohr-Coulomb material, but with different weights
(Fig. 6.13).
6.3.1.4 Results
Instability is detected for a safety factor of 2.1 and last converged step of
2.0, which leads to SF = 2.0, see Fig. 6.14.
Figure 6.14: Displacement intensities increment and safety factor at onset of in-
stability.
Remarks:
- Total stress analysis with initial state. An initial state analysis could be
activated first in order establish first the initial stress state on the unde-
formed configuration, but it does not influence the final safety factor (Fig.
129
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
6.15). In order to do that, open Drivers screen and insert Initial State
driver with default parameters, exit drivers’ screen, File/Save under name
Ex 6 4 cut wt is.inp and run. Observe that the safety factor obtained is
the same as before.
Figure 6.15: Safety factor for total stress analysis with water table and initial
state.
σ ij +
Spδ
ij ,j + fi = 0 : equilibrium
specify: (γ D )bi : above water table
specify: (γ SAT − γ F )bi : below water table
bi : gravity direction vector
F (( (
S ε̇kk(
+(vk,k
(( −(
cṗ = 0 : continuity
((
Effective stress analysis does not require specification of the initial water
pressure field, and specific weights must be adapted above (γ dry ) above
and below (γ buoyant ) the water table, see Fig. 6.16.
Figure 6.16: Safety factor for total stress analysis with water table and initial
state.
6.3.2.3 Materials
6.3.2.4 Results
131
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
The initial state analysis will compute the steady-state flow pattern and
hence the pressure field, from the fluid boundary conditions, and the gravity
stress state. The stability analysis will then be performed as above, in total
stress, using pressures and saturation ratios computed during initial state
analysis.
Mesh and solid boundary conditions are defined as usual. As the two-phase
flow problem activates the continuity equation, boundary conditions for the
fluid will be needed (Fig. 6.18). These include:
6.4.1.3 Materials
Two materials are needed: one for the continuum, one for seepage, see
Fig. 6.19 The continuum is a standard Mohr-Coulomb material. For two-
phase media (Deformation+Flow), body forces are computed automatically
by the code, given γ dry and e0 , the initial void ratio. Seepage boundary were
discussed in the chapter on flow, the default value of the penalty parameter
kv is used here (1.0).
Data needed for the fluid are: γ F = 10 kN/m3 , e0 = 1.0, β F = 1010 kN/m2 ,
k = 10−6 m/s, α = 5 1/m.
Remarks:
133
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
6.4.1.4 Results
135
CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
of steady states.
An initial state analysis is performed first which will define the initial stress
state and the initial water conditions, see results. A stability analysis follows
which yields a safety factor of SF = 1.9. A driven load analysis follows with
time dependent flow boundary conditions; this is performed as a succession
of steady states, in this case in one step. Stability is evaluated again at the
end of the procedure and yields SF = 1.85
Mesh and solid boundary conditions are defined as usual. Fluid bound-
ary conditions are input using fluid heads (Fig. 6.23), coupled with load
functions to manage the level of the water head (to do that: select bound-
ary edges and apply Preprocessing/FE Model/Boundary Condition/Pressure
BC/Fluid head on selected edges) and associated with seepage elements, a
must since the type of boundary condition cannot be anticipated (we have
seen that in the chapter dedicated to Flow).
Figure 6.23: Fluid heads, associated surface pressure, load functions LF1 for left
fluid head, LF2 for right fluid head.
Observe that fluid head on the right side is at level 1 m, associated with load
function (and level multiplier) number 2, constant and equal to 6.4. This
could also be handled with a fixed pressure BC. The fluid head on the left side
is at level 1 m, associated with load function 1, varying from 6.4 at t = 0 h
to 4 at t = 0.1 h, this fluid head is also associated with a surface pressure
(a total stress ”head”, in red in Fig. 6.23, check Create load when using
Preprocessing/FE Model/Boundary Condition/Pressure BC/Fluid head on
selected edges) induced by the water load and acting on submerged surfaces,
observe that the direction of this load must be specified (here: opposite to
external normal).
6.4.2.3 Materials
Data needed for the fluid are: γ F = 10 kN/m3 , e0 = 1.0, β F = 1010 kN/m2 ,
k = 10−6 m/s, Sr = 0.0, α = 2 1/m.
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Also, γ dry = 13 kN/m3 must be specified for the solid; γ = γ dry + nSγ F ,
with n = e/(1 + e) will be calculated automatically in each finite element.
6.4.2.4 Results
Figure 6.24: Initial water pressure field: use Graph Option/Maps & Set-
tings/Graph Contents/Pore pressure and scale Min = -64, Max =
0. Set also Time = 0
Stability evaluated at the end of the procedure yields SF = 1.85, the steady
state solution (with Ex 6 5 cut PermFlow.inp) gave SF = 1.70 previously.
For the coupled flow case, governing equations are given in Table 6.7.
The only change with respect to the previous analysis is the Time Depen-
dent/Consolidation driver which replaces Driven load.
ZSOIL DATA: Ex 6 7 cut trbc co.inp
Figure 6.25: Initial effective vertical stress state: Graph option/Maps and Set-
tings/Graph Contents/Continuum/Effective stresses/YY. Set also
Time = 0.
Figure 6.26: Drivers and units for coupled analysis: Ex 6 7 cut trbc co.inp
Remarks:
6.4.3.2 Materials
Data needed for the fluid are: γ F = 10 kN/m3 , e0 = 1.0, β F = 1010 kN/m2 ,
k = 10−6 m/s, Sr = 0.0, α = 2 1/m. Also, γ dry = 13 kN/m3 must be
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Remarks:
- Saturation ration is a function of pore pressure S = S(p).
- Data needed for the fluid are:
h2 1 0.64
∆t ≥ ∆tcrit = γ c = = 74.8 s (6.3)
αcv 4 1 · 2.14 · 10−3
which cannot be met.
6.4.3.3 Results
The chosen ∆t = 0.01 h violates the lower bound condition on the time step.
As a consequence the pressure field presents oscillations see Fig. 6.27. These
6.5.1 Drivers
The initial state driver will solve the steady state flow and establish hydro-
static pressure. The time dependent driver will activate the loading and
consolidation processes. Notice that time is real time in a consolidation
analysis, meaning time units are important (Fig. 6.29).
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Figure 6.28: Stabilized pressure field, and stabilization activation screen activa-
tion, for Ex 6 6 cut trbc co Wst.inp.
6.5.3 Materials
The soil is considered elastic and weightless in this test; but all fluid param-
eters must be specified (Fig. 6.31).
6.5.4 Results
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
6.6.1 Drivers
Rain is simulated as an inflow boundary condition (see Fig. 6.35), the value
of inflow, resulting from the product of the inflow value ”1” and associated
load function (Fig. 6.36) varies from 0 to 0.04 m/s in time. To define
the inflow in the preprocessor, first select the edges on which the rain will
be applied, and then use FE Model/Distributed Fluxes/Fluid/Create...on
Edge(s) option. A seepage boundary condition is needed everywhere flow
can cross a boundary (see Fig. 6.35).
Remarks:
- This value needs to be smaller than the Darcy coefficient, 0.1 m/s here, for
inflow to be possible, otherwise the medium will perform as impermeable,
Figure 6.33: Distribution of excess pore water overpressure at t = 0.1 day. Verti-
cal distribution of pw at axis (left); horizontal distribution of pw at
depth 0.5 m (right).
surface flow will occur and possibly erosion, but these phenomena are not
simulated yet in ZSOIL.
6.6.3 Results
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
Figure 6.34: Drivers sequence for continuous safety evaluation of slope under rain.
ratio plus Time/select current time step and choose t = 45.5 h, we observe a
water table identified by the fully saturated region (blue corresponds to satu-
ration S = 0, red to S = 1), in addition, surface saturation starts increasing
as inflow starts pouring through the ground, as indicated by the top yellow
layer, Fig. 6.37. The safety factor, resulting from the successive stability
analyses diminishes with time and ultimately failure occurs, as indicated by
the failure mechanism identified by displacement increment intensities (red is
max, blue is min, see Fig. 6.38), use Results/Postprocessing/Maps and Set-
tings/Graph contents/Nodal values/displacements/ABS plus Time/select
current time step t = 45.5 h and Time/select reference time step t = 45 h.
Figure 6.37: Saturation ratio distribution at time t = 45.5 h (red S = 1.0, blue
S = 0.0).
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CHAPTER 6. TWO-PHASE MEDIA
References
Bowles, J. (1979). Physical and Geotechnical Properties of Soil. McGraw-
Hill.
Truty, A. and Zimmermann, T. (2006). Stabilized mixed finite element
formulations for materially nonlinear partially saturated two-phase media.
Comp Meth Appl Mech Engng, 195:1517–1546.
van Genuchten, M. (1980). A closed form of the equation for predicting the
hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Am Soc, 44:802–808.
Contents
149
CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
The main goal of this tutorial is to get user familiar with the basic features
in the context of a real tunnel excavation presented as a case study.
The simulation of initial state, construction and excavation stages are the
main new features presented with the aid of this case study. The problem
is described on an engineering draft, Fig. 7.1. The illustration represents
a tunnel excavation in urban environment. The case is characterized by
existing surface constructions and a water table. The water around the
future excavation zone requires freezing in order to be able to excavate the
tunnel. In this chapter, we a single-phase case will by analyzed, then the
two-phase case will be examined.
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
- Running an initial state analysis which includes all loads present before the
beginning of construction: gravity and loads due to existing structures.
- Simulating the excavation of the small pilot tunnel, then the soil freezing
procedure, the excavation of the main tunnel and evaluating the safety
factor at the end of the excavation (NB. safety factors can be evalu-
ated in the middle of the analysis by tunning stability analyses after each
excavation step).
- Drivers are used to pilot the different stages, in association with load
functions, which control the evolution of load amplitudes, and existence
functions, which control the key events.
7.1.2 Drivers
The drivers input screen (Fig. ??) explains the essential aspects of the
analysis that is about to be carried out:
- Initial state analysis starting with the application of 50% of gravity and
50% of surface loads present at t = 0, progressively increased to 100%
by increments of 10%.
- Time dependent/Driven load analysis, starting at time t = 0 and pro-
gressing to time t = 10, with time increments of ∆t = 1 this part is split
into several construction stages, as we will see.
- Stability analysis, starting with a safety factor of 1.0 tentatively progress-
ing to 30, until instability is detected
Remarks:
Remarks:
Figure 7.2: Defining analysis type and drivers for the tunnel excavation problem.
7.1.3 Geometry
The geometrical data of the finite element model are illustrated in Fig. 7.3.
The ground water table is located 4.9 m below the terrain surface.
- The first for the main tunnel, with center (0;0) and radius 6.05 m, see
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Fig. 7.4
- the second for the limit of the frozen zone with center (0;0) and radius
7.25 m
- the third for the small tunnel, with center (9.65;7.65) and radius 2.4 m
Figure 7.5: Creating the circles that define the shape of the tunnels.
Hide auxiliary pre-processing components, i.e. the grid (press the G key)
and the axes (press the A key), respectively.
In the next step, we well define the contour of the mesh, including the
position of the building and the bottom boundary. For this, move to Macro
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to a situation where the initial material is replaced by a new one after being
excavated; activation of the new material is controlled by a corresponding
existence function.
Remarks:
- You can use the tool located on the right hand side of the screen in
order to zoom on this part of the mesh. A general view can be restored
by pressing CTRL-F.
7.1.6 Meshing
Now, select the Mesh/Create virtual mesh method and click inside of the
small tunnel. Select Unstructured mesh type, and set approximate element
Figure 7.8: Defining existnence and unloading functions in the macro model.
size to 1 m. Click on Create virtual mesh. Then, click inside of the main
tunnel, select unstructured mesh type, and set approximate element size to
1.5 m. Click on Create virtual mesh. Then click inside of the upper frozen
zone. Structured mesh type is selected by default, as this subdomain has
four control points. Set Edge 1-2 split to 10 and Edge 1-4 split to 2. Then
click on Create virtual mesh. Repeat the same operation for the lower frozen
zone.
Remarks:
Click successively inside of the two remaining upper subdomains, select un-
structured mesh type, and set approximate element size to 1.6 m. Click on
Create virtual mesh. Click successively inside of the two remaining lower sub-
domains, select unstructured mesh type, and set approximate element size
to 2 m. Click on Create virtual mesh. Press CTRL-F. Select Mesh/Virtual
− > Real mesh method and click successively inside of the 8 subdomains.
Then, press CTRL-M in order to hide the macro model, and to leave only the
FE model (nodes and elements). You should end up with a finite element
mesh as shown in Fig. 7.9.
Zoom on the main tunnel zone, and select edges along the tunnel lining
with the button located below the Windows menu, Fig. 7.10.
Then select FE model/Beam/On edge(s) method and set Initial material to
4 and Existence function to 6. Move to Unselect all button. Repeat the
same operation for the small tunnel lining. Set Initial material to 3 and
Existence function to 3. Move to Unselect all button. Now select edges
along the building’s wall and mat foundation with the button or the
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Figure 7.9: Finite element mesh for the tunnel excavaiton problem.
Figure 7.10: Selecting edges on the FE mesh in order to create beam elements.
You may now exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work (File/Exit.
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Pre-Processor.
Existence functions are multi-step Heaviside functions which take value 1
when an object that they are attached to, exists, and zero when the object
disappears. Existence functions are defined under Assembly/Existence func-
tions by entering one to three active periods, see Fig. 7.15 and Fig. 7.16.
For instance, existence function number 5, associated with the big tunnel
excavation has one active period, from t = 0 till t = 4.
Remarks:
Remarks:
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Remarks:
Materials present no difficulties in the single-phase case, see the input file
for details. However, the initial state input deserves a word of explanation.
We have seen in previous chapters that the initial state driver superposes
gravity, which requires specification of weight for each material (Assem-
bly/Materials/Unit weights, set γ), gravity direction (Assembly/ Materi-
als/Gravity −1 in vertical ”y” direction), and K0 state (Assembly/Materials/
Initial K0 state K0 (x0 ) = K0 (z 0 ) = 0.45). As illustrated in Fig. 7.19, the
K0 state is specified locally at the material level (especially for soils for
which in situ K0 typically depends on friction angle or overconsolidation
state) and not globally under Gravity, as some materials (beams e.g.) do
not require it.
Remarks:
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
- Notice that in the preprocessor, the load function associated with the
surface load, which represents a preexisting building, has number ”0”, see
(Assembly/Preprocessing/FE model/Surface load/ update parameters),
which corresponds to a permanent value of ”1”. This load is therefore
present at time t = 0 and will be taken into account in the evaluation of
the initial state.
7.1.10 Analysis
The single-phase data are valid for the 2-phase problem with the exception
of water presence. Open ZSOIL and, under File/... menu, first open:
Ex 7 1 tunnelzh 1ph.inp and save it as Ex 7 2 tunnelzh 2ph.inp.
7.2.2 Drivers
The input screen for analysis drivers (Fig. 7.20) explains the essential as-
pects of the analysis that is about to be carried out:
- Initial state analysis starting with the application of 50% of gravity and
50% of surface loads present at t = 0, progressively increased to 100%
by steps of 10%.
Remarks:
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Return to the geometrical preprocessor and hide the macro model with
CTRL-M, axes with A-key and grid with G-key. You can also hide nodes
with N-key and solid boundary conditions with CTRL-B.
Select edges along the right boundary of the domain (x = 40 m) with the
button or the Select edges in zoom box button.
Create seepage elements selecting the FE Model/Seepage/On edge(s) method.
Set material number to 6 and existence function to 0. Move to FE Model/
Boundary Conditions/Pressure BC/Fluid head on selected edges method,
and set water level to 7.65 m. Move to Unselect all button. Repeat the
same steps for the left boundary (x = −40 m). Remember to unselect
edges at the end, using Unselect all button.
Now select edges surrounding the small tunnel with the button (Fig.
7.22). You should select the external edges with respect to the beam ele-
ments.
Create seepage elements selecting the FE Model/Seepage/On edge(s) method.
Set material number to 6 and existence function to 3. Move to Unselect all
button. Repeat the same for the main tunnel, with material 6 and existence
function 6 (Fig. 7.23).
You may now exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work (File/Save
model and return to main Menu).
7.2.4 Materials
Make sure that flow data are specified and active for continuum and seepage
material, which is a new material. For more details on seepage elements,
see Chapter 5.
Figure 7.22: Selection of edges for generation of seepage elements imposing null
pore pressures at the tunnel boundary.
7.2.5 Results
Open the postprocessor. We will first take a look at the evolution of the
fluid velocities throughout the excavation stages. In the first step, move to
Time/Select current time step, select time step 0 and press OK.
Move to Graph. Option/Fluid velocities and then to Settings/Graph. Con-
tents. Set scale to 20, and press OK. You may then press the ”+” or the
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
”-” keys to navigate through time steps. Finally, at time t = 7, you should
obtain the fluid velocity vectors as illustrated in Fig. 7.24.
Figure 7.25: Distribution of negative pore water pressures (negative ≡ below free
water table).
Now, let us examine internal forces in the lining. :ove to Graph Option/MNT
for beams/anchors/rings in order to see the magnitude of bending moments.
In order to to hide foundation beam elements, you can first select them
with the Selections/Elements/List windows menu, selection rule = Material,
number = 5, click on the bottom black arrow, then on the top black arrow,
then on Select and Close. Then you can hide the selected elements with
the aid of Selections/Hide selected windows menu. You can also adjust
the scale with the Settings/Graph Contents menu, uncheck the automatic
scaling, and set the scale to 0.002. Press H-key to show continuum elements,
and the image presented in Fig. 7.26 should be obtained.
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
In this section, two specific post-processing options are presented, i.e. cal-
culation of the inflow in the tunnel and obtaining internal forces diagrams
based on the stress integration technique, respectively.
It will be presented now how to define sections around the main tunnel, set
the displayed value to normal fluid velocities, and integrate them in order
to compute the inflow in the tunnel. In the post-processor, move to Graph
Option/Sectional quantities and then select Sections/Sec. Planes (2D).
Click on two points in order to define the position of the section, here on
the left side of the main tunnel (see points 1 and 2 in Fig. 7.27). Then click
on Add button. Repeat the actions for the section below the tunnel (points
3 and 4) and on the right hand side (points 5 and 6). Click on Close.
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CHAPTER 7. TUNNEL EXCAVATION - CASE STUDY
Remarks:
- Highly accurate results for beams/shells which are modeled with aid of
continuum elements can only be obtained using the Continuum for
structures formulation which is defined at the material level, cf.Fig. 7.31.
Figure 7.31: Continuum for structures formulation at the material definition level.
Contents
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
A deep excavation in Berlin sand (Schweiger, 2002) will be studied in this ex-
ample. An engineering draft of the problem and the sequence of excavation
is given in Fig. 8.1.
The Preferences window can be recalled at any time from the menu Con-
trol/Project preselection (Fig. 8.2). Set Problem type to Deforma-
tion+Flow, and click OK.
Save the project with File/Save As... and give the name to the project as
Ex 8 1 excSand Basic.inp.
8.2.2 Pre-processing
From the main window of the software launch the pre-processor Assem-
bly/Preprocessing. Choose Construction axes from Draw panel and create
axes with coordinates shown in Fig. 8.3.
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
Choose Rectangle from Draw panel and create external rectangle (see Fig.
8.4).
Use Line method from Draw panel. Unselect Continue in Line dialog box and
create horizontal line at level −40 m. Select Run intersection automatically
and do not show this query again in Object intersection dialog box and press
Yes button (see Fig. 8.5).
Create horizontal line at level Y = −20 m, vertical line at X = 70 m,
- You can use tool located on the right hand side of the screen, in order
to zoom on parts of the mesh. CTRL-F restores the general view.
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
tour and click inside each subdivision of the domain as indicated in Fig.
8.7.
Move to Macro Model/Subdomain/Update/Parameters, click on the six
subdomains located below Y = −20 m and specify Initial material = 2.
Now we will create virtual meshes for all subdomains. Click on Macro
Model/Subdomain/Mesh/Create virtual mesh in the right tool bar, and click
inside the subdomain with existence function = 1 (you may use the zooming
tool located on the right hand side of the screen if needed).
There are three possibilities of creating the virtual mesh: structured, un-
structured, or through morphing. Here, we will choose the structured
method, and a 12 × 6 split of the subdomain.
Each subdomain is defined by control points which appear in red on the
screen above. If needed, control points can be added manually, using the
Pick button in the Meshing parameters window and selecting the subdomain
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
corners.
Enter Edge 1-2 = 6 (or 12), Edge 1-4 = 12 (or 6) and click Create vir-
tual mesh. Repeat the same operation for all other subdomains with split
In order to define the retaining wall, select objects in zoom box by means of
Select elements in zoom box tool indicated in Fig. 8.11, and select 6 lines
situated between coordinates (30, 0) and (30, -32).
Then, chose the Macro model/Subdomain/Beam on object(s) tool in the
right tool bar. Click Yes when prompted to create beams on selected objects,
and set Initial material = 3, and Existence function = 5. Leave all other
parameters equal to zero and click OK.
The virtual split for retaining wall can be created by selecting beam subdo-
main objects using the zoom box Select elements in zoom box (Fig. 8.12).
Next, select the Macro model/Subdomain/Create virtual mesh tool in the
right tool bar in order to apply the split on selected subdomains. Leave
default values in Meshing parameters dialog box; the Split for beam subdo-
mains will be automatically adjusted to continuum 2D subdomains to which
the virtual mesh has already been applied.
Now, select all beam subdomains (Select elements in zoom box from Global
selection tools panel) and move to Macro Model/Interface/On Structural
Subdomain(s). Create interface (contact) elements on both sides of the
wall, according to Fig. 8.13, with Material = 7 and Existence Function =
5 (use the Modify button to validate your choices).
In order to define boundary conditions that represent ground water table,
select all subdomain edges located at the external right boundary of the mesh
(Fig. 8.14. First create seepage on these edges with Macro Model/Seepage/
On Subdomain edge(s) (specify Material = 8 and Existence Function = 0).
This elements will allow free water flow across this boundary.
Then, move to Macro model/Pressure BC/Fluid head on selected edges and
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
Figure 8.13: Creating interface elements between the retaining wall and soil.
Figure 8.14: Defining water boundary conditions on the right external side of the
model.
Select all edges located at the left boundary of the mesh (inside the excava-
tion, Fig. 8.15) Create seepage on these edges with Macro Model/Seepage/
On Subdomain edge(s) (specify Material = 8 and Existence Function = 0).
Then, move to Macro model/Pressure BC/Fluid head on selected edges and
define Fluid head = 1 m, and Load function = 2 (Fig. 8.15). In order
Figure 8.15: Defining water boundary conditions on the left side of the model
(inside the excavation).
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
FE model/Node/Update/XYZ for one node tool in the right tool bar and
update coordinates of nodes as shown in Fig. 8.18.
The prestressed anchors can be now created using FE model/Anchor/Create/
Point+Vector+Length tool in the right tool bar. Click on the point situated
on the wall at (30, −4.3), and according to Fig. 8.1, introduce a directional
vector of (0.89, −0.45) and a distance (free length) of 11.8 m. Initial mate-
rial is equal to 4 and existence function is equal to 6 (Fig. 8.19). Uncheck
link node 2 in order to let the prestress force dissipate into the sealing. Click
on Fixed anchor zone tab, and according to Fig. 8.1, set the fixed anchor
length to 8 m, the fixed anchor zone interface material to 5 and leave the
number of segments (split) equal to 5. Click on Prestress tab, select By
force and according to Fig. 8.1, set the force value to 768 kN and existence
function (of the prestress) to 7. Then accept the setup by clicking OK.
Repeat the same actions for the anchors 2 and 3, with the following char-
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
acteristics:
Figure 8.20: Defining the hydraulic barrier by making evolved material permeabil-
ity.
There exist a few ways of modeling the hydraulic barrier depicted in Fig. 8.1.
For example, the flow discontinuity can be modeled by means of interface
elements for which continuity only applies to displacement field, i.e. no flow
available. Another way consists of decreasing permeability of the material.
In this example the latter approach is applied. Now, select the row of
elements located at the wall toe level and inside of the excavation zone using
Select elements in zoom box (see elements in red, Fig. 8.20). Then move
to FE model/Continuum 2D/Update.../Parameters and set Initial material
= 9. We will see later on that this material will have the same mechanical
properties as the surrounding material (Initial material = 2), but much lower
permeability.
Move upon Unselect all option.
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
Figure 8.22: Detecting singular nodes at the end of structural elements during
data verification.
Figure 8.23: Defining stage dependent process in analysis type and drivers dialog
window.
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
Figure 8.26: Basic soil setup for automatic estimation of HSS model parameters
describing Material 1.
click on Run basic parameter selection. As the result, the screen illustrated in
Fig. 8.27 will appear containing estimates of soil parameters for HSS model,
according to general soil description we have defined. For each parameter,
the results of the Automatic estimation are given: minimum, mean and
maximum values, respectively. By default, the mean value are also pasted
into yellow fields. These values will be taken for further consideration, but
clearly the user may modify them values at any moment (for example by
carrying out the Interactive estimation). Click on Update and Exit, and the
parameter values which have been automatically estimated will be presented
in the Automatic and Interactive estimation column in the summary table
in the Parameter Determination Toolbox (Fig. 8.28).
In the Parameter Determination Toolbox check all estimated parameter val-
ues in ”Interactive” column, and press User’s selection << Checked button
in order to update parameters in User’s selection column. Now leave the
Parameter Determination Toolbox by selecting File/Exit, and close Exit di-
alog box with OK button. Parameters which have been estimated have now
been attributed to Material number 1 in the Materials screen.
You may repeat the same actions for Material 2; the only change with
respect to Material 1 being Soil Density = Dense instead of Medium.
The following parameters describe structural elements.
Wall: for Material 3, select the third line in the list and press Modify. Modify
the label to: Wall, and click OK. In the Open dialog box next to Elastic,
enter E = 3 · 107 kN/m2 , and Poisson’s ratio ν = 0.15. In the Open dialog
box next to Unit weight, enter Weight / unit volume = 5 kN/m3 (difference
between concrete and soil unit weight) and click OK. In the Open dialog box
next to Cross section, set b = 1 m (analysis is plane strain) and h = 0.8 m
(wall thickness), then click OK.
Anchors: for Materials 4 and 6: in the Open dialog box next to Elastic,
enter Young modulus = 2.1 · 108 kN/m2 and click OK. In the Open dialog
box next to Geometry, set Area = 0.0015 m2 and Interval between anchors
= 2.3 m (for Material 4) or 1.35 m (for Material 6, according to Fig. 8.1).
Click OK.
Material line 5 corresponds to fixed anchor zone, we leave default parameters
assuming that the sealing resistance in sufficiently large during execution of
the real project.
Interface: Select Material line 7, disable the Flow check box (the wall is
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
considered impermeable) and then move to the Open dialog box next to
Nonlinear. Introduce effective strength parameters: cohesion c = 0 kPa and
friction angle φ = 28o . Finally, in order to limit penetration, move to the
Open dialog box next to Elastic, and set Kn multiplier = 0.05 (if no better
information is available) then click OK.
Material line 8 corresponds to seepage elements, and again, default param-
eters can be left.
Finally, the material describing to the hydraulic barrier should be specified.
First select material 2, and click on Add selected material to database. Then,
click on material 9, click on Modify, then on Take material from database
and select the last added material, corresponding to material 2. Then click
on Take selected material and click on OK. Material number 9 has now the
same parameters as the material number 2. Now move to Flow group, and
set Data mode = Load Function. Set kx0 load function = 3 and Ky0 load
function = 3. The load function which describes evolution of the material
permeability (its reduction) will be described below.
Click on OK to leave Materials screen.
Figure 8.29: Defining existence functions for the deep excavation problem.
Figure 8.30: Defining unloading function associated with excavation stages (re-
moval of initial material elelements).
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
8.3 Calculation
Once the data input phase has been completed, launch the computing by
selecting Analysis/Run analysis. The calculation module window will appear
and the calculation progress can be followed.
8.4 Post-processing
When the calculation is finished, launch the post-processor from the main
window menu Results/Postprocessing.
First, let’s analyze the field of displacement vectors under Graph options/
Displacement vectors (Fig. 8.34).
In order to visualize color maps, first select Graph option/Maps and then
chose the content of the results to display with Settings/graph contents.
For instance, in this window, we can select Nodal quantities to visualize
displacements. Graphical settings can be adjusted here. Once a variable
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
has been selected, it is possible to switch among the computed steps using
”+” and ”-” keys to see the evolution with time in the overall domain. For
example horizontal displacements are represented in Fig. 8.35.
Sections can also be made through Graph options/Sectional quantities, see
Fig. 8.36 for normal displacements along two sections defined under Sec-
tions/Sec. Planes 2D and Setting/Graph Contents menus.
Bending moments, anchor forces, earth pressures can also be visualized by
choosing the corresponding Graph. Option menu: MNT for beams/anchors/...
(see Fig. 8.37) or Contact stress diagrams.
Finally, we can compare quantitative results like the maximal horizontal
Figure 8.37: Deep excavation: bending moments in the retaining wall at the final
stage of excavation, T = 7.
displacement of the wall or the surface settlement behind the wall with field
measurements, or reference solutions. The wall horizontal displacement had
been measured in situ, and Fig. 8.39 compares the finite element computed
horizontal displacement with the actual one.
Fig. 8.40 compares the model prediction of the surface settlement behind
the wall with the reference computed solution given in Schweiger (2002), as
no in situ measurement is known to be available for this experiment.
The predictions obtained using ZSOIL using the first guess of parameter
values (automatically estimated parameters) are found to be globally close
to measurements and computed reference solution, and could of course
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
Figure 8.38: Deep excavation: normal forces in the retaining wall and pre-stressed
anchors at the final stage of excavation, T = 7.
Figure 8.39: Computed deflection of the retaining wall deflection vs. the measured
one (Schweiger, 2002).
Figure 8.40: Settlement behind wall (computed and reference solution (Schweiger,
2002)).
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CHAPTER 8. 2D TUTORIAL: EXCAVATION WITH RETAINING WALL
References
Obrzud, R. and Truty, A. (2012). The hardening-soil model, a practical
guidebook (revised 31.09.2014). Technical Report ZSoil report 100701,
Zace Services Ltd, Lausanne.
Contents
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
When starting ZSOIL program, set the following preferences for the new
project:
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Analysis type : 3D
Problem type : Deformation
Unit system : Standard
Version type : Basic
The preferences window can be recalled and the project preferences can be
modified at any time from the context menu Control/Project preselection.
Note that there is no obligation to set preferences, however it may facilitate
further data input.
Save the project with File/Save As... and specify the project name as
Ex 9 1 3D-container.inp. It is highly recommended to regularly save the
project using Ctrl+S.
9.2.2 Pre-processing
Rotate the domain with the hand tool in order to see the back faces.
Unselect all faces , select three back faces. Create next subdomains by
extrusion with the vector (0 0 −2). Repeat operation for next three faces
with the vector (0 0 −14). Press CTRL-F to optimize zoom with the newly
created objects(see Fig. 9.4)
Move to Macro Model/Point/[Un] Select one object and pick four points at
top level with X coordinate equal 6 m. Use Macro Model/Point/Move Point
method with vector (4 0 0). Unselect all object and select four nodes with Z
coordinate equal −4 m. Use Macro Model/Point/Move Point method with
the vector (0 0 −4). See Fig. 9.6 for details.
Select all objects (CTRL-A). Use Macro Model/Subdomain/Parameters in
order to set its initial material to 2. Then use Unselect all from Global
selection tools panel.
Now use the Mesh/Create virtual mesh option and pick successively the 9
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Remarks::
Figure 9.7: Macro model: Creating the virtual split for 3D continuum.
cent subdomains
Select two subdomain faces (see Fig. 9.8). Use Macro Model/Subdomain/
3D Shell/3D Shell on face(s) to create shells (2). Set their existence function
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Figure 9.8: Macro model: Defining the virtual split and the normal direction for
shells.
Create Auxiliary plane by selecting icon from Draw panel (see Fig. 9.9). Se-
lect all objects (CTRL-A), use Macro Model/Subdomain/Copy by symmetry
and pick created auxiliary plane in order to complete the action. Then use
Unselect all from Global selection tools panel.
Figure 9.9: Macro model: creating the left part of the model using copy by sym-
metry.
Set the orthogonal camera and the XY projection in View panel. Hide Shell
subdomains in Visibility window. Use Select faces in zoom box option from
Edges/Faces sel. panel and drag with mouse from left to the right in order
to create box containing faces at bottom part of the model (see Fig. 9.10).
Create Continuum 3D subdomain with option Macro Model/Subdomain/3D
Continuum/3D Continuum by Face(s) extrusion. Define vector (0 −12 0),
check on Create virtual mesh and define Split = 9. Close dialog box using
Apply button.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Figure 9.10: Macro model: creating subsoil below the container by face extrusion.
A proper existence function for the container has been already set while
creating the shell subdomains.
Select the 2 soil subdomains inside the container with , and hide them
with button which is located on the left hand side of the screen. More-
over, hide the shell subdomains with CTRL-D.
Select three lateral faces around the container with the button, and move
to Macro Model/Interface/Create/On Continuum Subd. face(s) method. In
the opening dialog box, define Attribute = Contact with existence function
= 4, and material = 4 and press Modify. Leave ”Automatic generation...”
checkbox on, and click OK (see Fig. 9.12). Move to Selections/Unselect
all Windows menu.
First, unhide shell subdomains with CTRL-D. Also, hide the continuum sub-
domains with CTRL-H.
Move to Macro Model/Interface/Outline.../All and hide them using but-
ton. Select 3 faces with normal pointing outwards of the left container using
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Figure 9.13: Macro model: applying water pressure inside the container.
Go to Control/Analysis & Drivers. For the initial state driver, enter 1 for
Ini. load factor (initial), Fin. load factor (final) and Increment. In order to
define a time dependent process, under Driver, select Time dependent and
leave Driven Load for the driver Type. Set Time start = 0, Time end = 7,
time Increment = 1 and Multiplier = 1.0. You should end up with the final
setup as shown in Fig. 9.15.
Control whether the analysis type is defined as 3D, and set the problem type
as Deformation.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
215
CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
9.3 Computing
Once the data input has been accomplished, computing can be run by Anal-
ysis/Run analysis. The calculation module window will appear and the cal-
culation progress can be followed.
9.4 Post-processing
Once the computing has terminated, run the post-processor from the main
window menu Results/Postprocessing.
In order to visualize color maps, first select Graph option/Maps. Displace-
ment intensities for the last computed time step (T = 7) are plotted (see
Fig. 9.20). It is possible to switch among the calculation steps using key-
board keys + and − to observe the changes in the whole domain over the
time increments.
Move to Graph option/Deformed Mesh, then to Time/Select Current Time
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Figure 9.20: Absolute displacement intensities at the last time step (T=7).
Step, set T=4, and finally set Time/Select Reference Time Step Tref =3.
You can then adjust amplification of the deformed mesh using Page Down
and Page Up keys, hide continuity elements (which are present before inter-
face elements appear at time T=6) with K key, and show the applied loads
with L key.
You can zoom the model using located in the upper toolbar, and move
in the domain using (rotation) or Ctrl- (translation). In order to come
back to the global view press Ctrl-F.
As the result, Fig. 9.21 represents the deformed configuration of the con-
tainer due to right chamber loading (∆T=T4-T3).
In order to visualize color maps which contain bending moments, first a local
coordinate system shoul be define. Move to Settings/Local coord. System
for/shells-membranes-contact and define direction as Global axis Y. In this
way, XX direction is defined as the projection of the vertical axis on every
shell element, and XX moment is the one which bends around this axis.
Finally, move to Graph option/Maps, then to Settings/Graph Contents and
select Results for Elements: Shells/Membranes, Moment XX (see Fig. 9.22).
Figure 9.21: Deformed mesh due to loading applied in the right chamber.
Figure 9.22: Color map for bending moment XX developed due to loading applied
in the right chamber.
moment.
Now, you can show interface elements using the shortcut key K, and hide
shell elements with D key.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
It has been demonstrated that the excavation of soil assuming 45o slope
inclination in a cohesive material does not reveal instability. Let’s assume
now that the project assumption has changed as follows:
You will see in the following pages how to update geometry and material
parameters, how to proceed the excavation in two substeps, and finally, how
to add shotcrete and nails in order to stabilize the vertical excavation walls.
Figure 9.24: Normal stresses at the interface elements at the last time step (T=7).
Save the project with File/Save As... and rename the project to Ex 9 2 3D-
container vertical.inp. Run the preprocessor by selecting menu option As-
sembly/Preprocessing.
Hide the real mesh with F-key and use tool, CTRL- and the mouse
wheel in order to rotate and zoom the model.
You can control whether the finite element mesh has been updated using F
key.
Remarks::
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
It can be easily concluded that the excavation cannot be carried out without
any additional countermeasure. In the next parts of this chapter, you will
see how to divide the excavation stage into two substeps. In addition,
introducing shotcrete wall and nail elements will be demonstrated.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Run the geometrical preprocessor and use Ctrl-B in order to hide boundary
conditions.
Click on the Continuum 3D elements selection tool as indicated by the
red arrow in Fig. 9.28. Move to Selection rule... Existence function
and select EF=1, then click New selection (↑). Then repeat for Selection
rule...Existence function and select EF=2, then click Add (↑ +) to complete
the selection of any 3D element with associated existence function. Finally,
press Inverse selection, and Select listed elements (those without attributed
EF, i.e. EF=0) and Close the dialog. All elements located outside the ex-
cavation area should be selected (red contours).
Hide selected elements with icon marked with the red rectangle in Fig.
9.28. Hide nodes and construction lines with Visibility dialog box (see Fig.
9.29).
In order to show the existence function associated with each visible element,
move to the list located in Visibility dialog box, and in Display color for se-
lect Existence function.
Then, select the XY projection, in an orthogonal view, with icons located
in View panel, and select the first four rows of elements with the FE
Model/Continuum 3D/Outline.../In zoom box option, as shown in Fig. 9.29.
Next, hide selected elements.
Select the Continuum 3D selection tool as indicated in Fig. 9.28. Move to
Selection rule... Existence function, select Existence Function=1, and press
Figure 9.30: Control view of the existance functions associated with two excava-
tion stages.
Add (↑ +). Then press Select to highlight listed elements and Close to close
the dialog. Next, move to FE Model/Continuum 3D/Update.../Parameters
and attribute Existence Function =5 to the selected continuum elements.
Repeat similar steps for the bottom excavation stage. Press again the
Continuum 3D selection tool (Fig. 9.28). Move to Selection rule... Ex-
istence function and select 2, then click Change (↑) (and not Add (↑
+)!). Next, press Select in order to highlight listed elements. Move to
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Make elements visible using located in Visibility window; you should get
existence function associated with the continuum elements as shown in Fig.
9.30.
You can now exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work (File/Save
model and return to main menu).
- EF 5: [0; 1.5]
- EF 6: [0; 1.5 and 6; INF]
Then move to Analysis/Run Analysis and run a control computing. Calcu-
lations should converge at time T=1.5 (first excavation stage) and diverged
at time T=2 (after the second excavation stage). Lack of a retaining wall
results in failure, and therefore, 20 cm-shotcrete layer will be introduced in
the next step.
No you can hide selected elements with icon and hide nodes (N-key),
hide construction lines (Ctrl-G), shells (D-key), interfaces (I-key) and sub-
domains (J-key).
Then using (one by one) or (faces between two points) icons, select
the four first rows of faces, according to Fig. 9.32.
Figure 9.32: Selecting faces in order to create shell elements which represent short-
crete.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Make shells visible by pressing D-key, and Select all Shell one layer ele-
ments in order to define their thickness using FE Model/Shell one layer/
Update.../Thickness and set T h = 0.20 m (Fig. 9.33).
Now, you can exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work.
You can now define the Existence functions for the shell elements which
represent the shotcrete wall as follows:
- EF 7: [1.5; INF]
- EF 8: [2; INF]
Then you can specify the material properties of the shotcrete wall in the
Material dialog.
Once the shotcrete characteristics have been specified you can Run Analysis.
The computing should terminate at T=7 with a relatively large number of
iterations at T=2 due to a larger increment of plastic deformations occurring
in the soil at this stage during the second, deeper excavation.
Now you can control the results by running Postprocessing and Graph Op-
tion/Maps. Move to Time/Select Current Time Step, set T=2 (end of the
Figure 9.34: Displacement intensities for the vertical retained with the shotcrete
retaining wall at the end of excavation (T=2).
second part of the excavation), hide interface elements K, and notice that
displacement color maps indicate the maximal displacements intensities of
3.7 cm for the lateral displacements of the shotcrete wall, as well as the
settlements behind the wall, as shown in Fig. 9.34.
Perhaps, the obtained order of magnitude of displacements is not acceptable
by project requirements and one would like to improve the retaining system.
In the following section, it will be demonstrated that the settlements and
horizontal displacements can be considerably reduced with the aid of nailing.
Run the geometrical preprocessor and hide the following group of elements:
boundary conditions CTRL-B, volumetric elements H, nodes N, and macro
model J.
Move to Macro model/Nail/Create.../Enter XYZ for 2 points and set Point
1 (-5.4; 3.2; -4) and Point 2 (-5.4; 1.5; -8.7). Then leave default options
for the created nails, i.e. Nail material = 6, Nail-soil interface material=7
and Split/Number of segments=5. Finally, set Existence function = 7 (the
same EF as shotcrete for the upper part of the excavation).
Then select all nails Outline.../all and apply Copy with translation.
Set Direction = (0; -1; 0), Step size = 0.6 and Number of steps = 1.
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
Figure 9.36: Attaching heads of nail elements to shells and visualization of linked
heads.
You can always control whether there is no unattached nail using Out-
line.../Without linked head.
Remarks::
• The Points which define geometry of Nail elements do not have coincide
with the nodes defining shell elements (shotcrete). On the other hand,
Points which define the nail head should be aligned with the surface of
shell elements.
You can now exit the graphical preprocessor and save your work.
In order to define parameters which describes behavior of nails, go to As-
sembly/Materials and define the parameters as follows:
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CHAPTER 9. 3D TUTORIAL: CONCRETE BOX CONTAINER
STRUCTURES
Contents
233
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
235
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
ing.
237
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
10.2 Beams
10.2.1 Geometry
Geometrical input is similar to truss type elements and will not be discussed
here, except for chosen issues.
239
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
direction, which should not change when circulating around a closed contour,
to avoid spurious output when postprocessing stress resultant diagrams. Use
MacroModel/Subdomain/Update/Reverse direction to change local y axis
orientation which points towards the upper fiber of the beam cross section.
Use MacroModel/Subdomain/Create virtual mesh to create discretization
and later MacroModel/Subdomain/virtual to real mesh.
Remarks:
As beam models are 1-dimensional, offsetting them to match the real tunnel
axis may be needed, Fig. 10.11.
10.2.4 Hinges
Use FE model/Beam/Update/Hinge.
Remarks:
- Hinges are available for both the displacement and the flexibility formu-
lation.
241
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
mark manuals.
Steel profiles data bases are available in ZSOIL, see Fig. 10.13. Users
can select beams cross-sections from Assembly/Materials/Add/Continuum
& structure type = Beams/Geometry/Type = Profiles.
243
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
10.3 Membranes
Membranes are structural elements which have only in-plane stiffness, they
have many applications in civil engineering and ZSOIL supports many of
them: as stabilizing elements for steep slopes, as reinforcement in road
construction, as reinforcement of concrete structures or sometimes as stan-
245
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
10.3.1 Materials
10.3.2 Illustration
10.4 Plates
ZSOIL uses shell elements both for plates and shells simulations. Mindlin’s,
so-called, thick plate theory, which includes shear, serves as theoretical ba-
sis in ZSOIL. The type of applications addressed by ZSOIL justifies this
approach.
- Preferences/3D/structures
Figure 10.20: Driver setup for analyzing the loaded plate problem.
10.4.2 Geometry
247
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
The best approximation to thin plate theory, which neglects shear, will be
obtained by blocking not only displacements but also boundary torsions as
follows (Fig. 10.22). In graphical preprocessor:
10.4.3 Results
Comparison of thin shell solution and convergence with mesh refinement are
given below in Fig. 10.24.
DATA: E = 200 000 MPa, ν = 0.3, γ = 0, h = 20 cm, q = 10 kN/m2
10.4.4 Postprocessing
249
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
DATA:
E = 200 000 MPa, ν = 0.3, γ = 0
t = 20 cm, q = 5 kN/m2 , n = 64
Let’s examine the case of an elastoplastic clamped square plate under uni-
formly distributed load. Results are compared with Hinton and Owen (1984).
Problem : 3D/deformation
Driver, type : Time dependent/Driven load
Input file : Ex 10 2 epsqplt.inp
10.4.5.3 Material
E = 300 000 MPa, ν = 0.3, fy = 30 MPa (shell element, Von Mises mate-
rial)
251
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
10.4.5.4 Results
10.5 Shells
As already mentioned, plates and shells use the same elements in ZSOIL,
but for plates we do not care about membranes forces.
b. as illustrated below
253
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
255
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
Select boundary nodes located at the bottom of the mesh, move to Do-
main/FE Model/Boundary Conditions/Solid BC/Create/On Node and set
uy = 0, rx = rz = 0 (see Fig. 10.34).
Figure 10.34: Boundary conditions setup for the hemispherical shell problem.
Move to Unselect All, and repeat the same operation for the nodes located
in the YZ plane, this time setting ux = 0, ry = rz = 0.
Move again to Unselect All and set boundary condition uz = 0 for node E in-
dicated in Fig. 10.35. Move to Domain/FE Model/Nodal Loads/Create.../
On Node and create two 1 N nodal loads on nodes A and B, with Load
Function = 1, with directions according to Fig. 10.35.
Move to FE Model/Shell one Layer/[Un]Outline.../In zoom box and select
all the shells. Then move to Update/Thicknessand set Th = 0.04 m.
Finally, move to File/Save model and return to Main Menu.
Remarks:
257
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
10.5.2.3 Results
10.5.2.4 Hinges
When modeling real constructions with shells, continuity may not be reflect-
ing the reality. In ZSOIL it is therefore possible to introduce shell hinges
in order to relax the transmission of internal forces between adjacent shell
elements both on rotational or translational degrees of freedom. To intro-
duce hinges, in graphical preprocessor, select the row of edges belonging to
shell elements where you want to introduce the relaxation, and use option
FE Model/Shell Hinge/Create.../On edge(s). Hinges will introduce a total
relaxation of continuity of corresponding degrees of freedom.
In Fig. 10.36, the influence of creating shell hinges in the corners of the
container studied in Chapter 10 is shown. Note that without hinges, the
Figure 10.36: Illustration of shell hinges: top without hinges, bottom with hinges.
This can be especially useful in practical use when modeling slurry walls
with monolithic shells, where transmission of forces through joints between
panels can be overestimated by the numerical solution.
259
CHAPTER 10. STRUCTURES
References
Batoz, J.-L. and Dhatt, G. (1990). Modélisation des structures par éléments
finis, volume 3. Hermes.
Hinton, E. and Owen, D. (1984). Finite Element Software for Plates and
Shells, volume 2. Pineridge Press.
261
APPENDIX A. SOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS
Gauss elimination
The principle of Gauss elimination is simple; the first equation is used to
explicitly write the first unknown as a function of the others, it is then
replaced in the following equations. The same procedure can then be per-
formed with the second unknown and so on. When the last unknown is
reached a back-substitution procedure can be initiated.
Remarks:
Forward reduction
Back-substitution
4. Subtract K23 × line 3 from line 2, subtract K13 × line 3 from line 1
···
5. Subtract K12 × line 2 from line 1
Remarks:
- the solution is read in the last column
1 0 −0.5 d2x 0
√
100 0 1 −0.5 d2y = − 2
263
APPENDIX A. SOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS
1 0 −0.5 0
0 1 −0.5 −1.414 E-2
−0.5 −0.5 1.5 0
1 0 −0.5 0
0 1 −0.5 −1.414 E-2
0 −0.5 1.25 0
1 0 −0.5 0
0 1 −0.5 −1.414 E-2
0 0 1 −0.702 E-2
1 0 −0.5 0
0 1 −0.5 −1.414 E-2
0 0 1 −0.702 E-2
1 0 0 −0.353 E-2
0 1 0 −1.767 E-2
0 0 1 −0.707 E-2
The last column finally contains the solution vector which was already found
in Chapter 2.
100 |
0 | (first column of LHS)
−50 |
0 |
100 | (second column of LHS)
−50 |
−50 |
−50 | (third column of LHS)
150 |
0 |
1.414 | (RHS)
0 |
The same example can also be analyzed fully within ZSOIL as shown in
Chapter 2; the corresponding data file is Ex 2 1 trussStruct.inp. A choice
between two linear solvers is available in ZSOIL as discussed in the next
section.
265
APPENDIX A. SOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS
PP
PP
P
q
P
267
APPENDIX A. SOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS
Dilatancy
Shearing may cause a volume increase for plastic deformation. This volume
increase is called dilatancy. The effect of dilatancy can be observed in the
triaxial test, as illustrated in Fig. B.1. The input dilatancy angle ψ can be
derived from the dilatancy parameter d which defines the maximal slope of
the ε1 − εv curve.
Remark:
- Dilatancy cut-off is activated when the current void ratio e exceeds maxi-
mum void ratio emax i.e.,
when the accumulated volumetric strain satisfies:
max 1 + emax
εv ≥ ln the dilatancy angle ψ is set to ψ = 0.
1 + e0
269
APPENDIX B. DILATANCY
written:
dεv dεv ∼ dεpv
d=− =− =− p (B.1)
dε1 dε1 dε1
The signs correspond to the convention for classical mechanics (i.e. pos-
itive in extension), whereas underlined values are positive in compression
following the usual soil mechanics convention.
The dilatancy slope d is related to the plastic flow direction and its form
depends on the adopted plastic potential.
Considering a Mohr-Coulomb type yield criterion F, with σ 1 > σ 2 > σ 3 :
hence:
then:
dεpV 2 sin ψ
d=− p = (B.6)
dε1 1 − sinψ
and:
d
ψ = arcsin , which can be used for ZSOIL input.
d+2
with Dr denoting the relative density index (= (emax − e)/(emax − emin )).
271
APPENDIX B. DILATANCY
References
Bolton, M. (1986). The strength and dilatancy of sands. Géotechnique,
36(1):65–78.
These results are evaluated, stored and printed into text file at integration
point and are referred to integration point fiber coordinate system and to
the mid surface. During the visualization phase, a user’s reference system
must be defined.
273
APPENDIX C. SHELL ORIENTATION AND SIGN OF RESULTANTS
References
Aubry, D. and Ozanam, O. (1988). Free surface tracking through non-saturated
models. In Swoboda, editor, Numerical methods in geomechanics, volume 1,
pages 757–763, Innsbruck. Balkema, Rotterdam.
Batoz, J.-L. and Dhatt, G. (1990). Modélisation des structures par éléments finis,
volume 3. Hermes.
Hinton, E. and Owen, D. (1984). Finite Element Software for Plates and Shells,
volume 2. Pineridge Press.
Salençon, J. and Matar, M. (1979). Capacité portante des semelles filantes. Revue
française de géotechnique, 9:51–76.
van Genuchten, M. (1980). A closed form of the equation for predicting the
hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Am Soc, 44:802–808.