A three-dimensional particle finite element model for simulating soil flow with elastoplasticity
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Date
2022-12
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Soil flow is involved in many earth surface processes such as debris flows and landslides. It is a very challenging task to model this large deformational phenomenon because of the extreme change in material configurations and properties when soil flows. Most of the existing models require a two-dimensional (2D) simplification of actual systems, which are however three-dimensional (3D). To overcome this issue, we develop a novel 3D particle finite element method (PFEM) for direct simulation of complex soil flows in 3D space. Our PFEM model implemented in a fully implicit solution framework based on a generalised Hellinger–Reissner variational principle permits the use of a large time step without compromising the numerical stability. A mixed quadratic-linear element is used to avoid volumetric locking issues and ensure computational accuracy. The correctness and robustness of our 3D PFEM formulation for modelling large deformational soil flow problems are demonstrated by a series of benchmarks against analytical or independent numerical solutions. Our model can serve as an effective tool to support the assessment of catastrophic soil slope failures and subsequent runout behaviours.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
17
Pages / Article No.
5639 - 5653
Publisher
Springer
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Date collected
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Subject
Large deformation; Second-order cone programming; Slope stability; Soil flow; PFEM
Organisational unit
03465 - Löw, Simon (emeritus) / Löw, Simon (emeritus)
Notes
Funding
189882 - Future evolution of meta-stable rock slopes in hydropower systems of China: Implications for long-term safety (SNF)