Numerical analysis of embedded retaining walls with coupled hydro-mechanical zero-thickness interface elements
Numerical analysis of embedded retaining walls with coupled hydro-mechanical zero-thickness interface elements
Zero-thickness interface elements are often used in the finite element (FE) modelling of embedded retaining walls to represent more closely the mechanics of the wall-soil interface. When modelling the behaviour of such soil-structure interaction in an analysis where seepage and consolidation are allowed in the surrounding soil discretised by continuum elements, pore pressure variations at the wall-soil interface should also be adequately accounted for to ensure hydro-mechanical (HM) consistency. In this paper, a series of FE analyses of a retaining wall embedded in London clay has been performed in which the coupled hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviour of London clay is simulated. Different conditions at interface elements have been employed, undrained, drained and coupled, to assess their influence on the predicted results for design, such as wall movements, ground surface settlements and forces acting on the wall, demonstrating the significance of ensuring full compatibility between interface elements and the adjacent continuum elements. Parametric studies have also investigated the influence of the material properties of the coupled HM interfaces on the predicted wall behaviour.
Liang Dong; Wenjie J. Cui; David Malcolm Potts; Lidija Zdravkovic
10th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering (NUMGE2023)
3. Coupled analysis
https://doi.org/10.53243/NUMGE2023-285
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