EXCAVATION IN SAND

• Hide the soil and the plates around the excavation.

Select the soil volume below the excavation (between z = -6.5 and z = -9.5).
In Selection explorer under WaterConditions feature,
• click Conditions and select Head from the drop-down menu. Enter zref = -6.5 m.
Select the soft clay volume below the excavation.
• Set the water conditions to Interpolate.
Preview this calculation phase.
Click the Vertical cross section button in the Preview window and define the cross
section by drawing a line across the excavation.
• Select the psteady option from the Stresses menu.
Display the contour lines for steady pore pressure distribution. Make sure that the
Legend option is checked in View menu. The steady state pore pressure distribution
is displayed in Figure 2.5. Scroll the wheel button of the mouse to zoom in or out to
get a better view.

Figure 2.5 Preview of the steady state pore pressures in Phase_4 in a cross section

• Click on the Close button to return to the Input program.

Add another phase (Phase_5). The default values of the parameters will be used for
this calculation phase.
• Activate the surface load and set σz = -20 kN/m2 .

Defining points for curves

Before starting the calculation process, some stress points next to the excavation pit and
loading are selected to plot a stress strain curve later on.
Click the Select points for curves button. The model and Select points window will
be displayed in the Output program.
• Define (37.5 19 -1.5) as Point-of-interest coordinates.

Hint: The visualization settings can be changed from the menu. For more
information refer Section 8.5.2 of Reference Manual .

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• Click the Search closest button. The number of the closest node and stress point
will be displayed.
• Click the checkbox in front of the stress point to be selected. The selected stress
point will be shown in the list.
• Select also stress points near the coordinates (37.5 19 -5), (37.5 19 -6) and (37.5 19
-7) and close the Select points window.
• Click the Update button to close the Output program.
Start the calculation process.
Save the project when the calculation is finished.

Hint: Instead of selecting nodes or stress points for curves before starting the
calculation, points can also be selected after the calculation when viewing
the output results. However, the curves will be less accurate since only the
results of the saved calculation steps will be considered.
» To plot curves of structural forces, nodes can only be selected after the
calculation.
» Nodes or stress points can be selected by just clicking them. When moving
the mouse, the exact coordinates of the position are given in the cursor
location indicator bar at the bottom of the window.

2.4 VIEWING THE RESULTS

After the calculations, the results of the excavation can be viewed by selecting a
calculation phase from the Phases tree and pressing the View calculation results button.
Select the final calculation phase (Phase_5) and click the View calculation results
button. The Output program will open and will show the deformed mesh at the end
of the last phase.
• The stresses, deformations and three dimensional geometry can be viewed by
selecting the desired output from the corresponding menus. For example, choose
Plastic points from the Stresses menu to investigate the plastic points in the model.
• In the Plastic points window, Figure 2.6, select all the options except the Elastic
points and the Show only inaccurate points options. Figure 2.7 shows the plastic
points generated in the model at the end of the final calculation phase.

Figure 2.6 Plastic points window

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Figure 2.7 Plastic points at the end of the final phase

Start selecting structures. Click at a part of the wall to select it. Press <Ctrl + A>
simultaneously on the keyboard to select all wall elements. The selected wall
elements will colour red.
• While holding the <Ctrl> key or <Shift> key on the keyboard, double-click at one of
the wall elements to see the deformations plane of the total displacements |u| in all
wall elements.
To generate a curve, select the Curves manager option from the Tools menu or click
the corresponding button in the toolbar.
• All pre-selected stress points are shown in the Curve points tabsheet of the Curves
manager window.
• Create a new chart.
• Select point K from the drop-down menu for x−axis of the graph. Select ǫ1 under
Total strains.
• Select point K from the drop-down menu for y−axis of the graph. Select σ '1 under
Principal effective stresses.
• Invert the sign of both axes by checking the corresponding boxes (Figure 2.8).
• Click OK to confirm the input.
The graph will now show the major principal strain against the major principal stress.
Both values are zero at the beginning of the initial conditions. After generation of the
initial conditions, the principal strain is still zero whereas the principal stress is not zero
anymore. To plot the curves of all selected stress points in one graph, follow these steps:
• Select Add curve → From current project from right mouse button menu.
• Generate curves for point L, M and N in the same way.
The graph will now show the stress-strain curves of all four stress points (Figure 2.9). To
see information about the markers, make sure the Value indication option is selected

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Figure 2.8 Curve generation window

from the View menu and hold the mouse on a marker for a while. Information about the
coordinates in the graph, the number of the point in the graph, the number of the phase
and the number of the step is given. Especially the lower stress points show a
considerable increase in the stress when the load is applied in the last phase.

Figure 2.9 Stress - Strain curve

Hint: To re-enter the Curve generation window (in the case of a mistake, a desired
regeneration or a modification), the Curve settings option from the Format
menu can be selected. As a result the Curves settings window appears, on
which the Regenerate button should be clicked.
» The Chart settings option in the Format menu may be used to modify the
settings of the chart.

To create a stress path plot for stress point K follow these steps:

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• Create a new chart.

• In the Curves generation window, select point K from the drop-down menu of the
x−axis of the graph and σ 'yy under Cartesian effective stresses.
• Select point K from the drop-down menu of the y−axis of the graph. Select σ 'zz
under Cartesian effective stresses.
• Click OK to confirm the input (Figure 2.10).

Figure 2.10 Vertical effective stress (σ 'zz ) versus horizontal effective stress (σ 'yy ) at stress point K
located near (37.5 19 -1.5)

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3 LOADING OF A SUCTION PILE

In this tutorial a suction pile in an offshore foundation will be considered. A suction pile is
a hollow steel pile with a large diameter and a closed top, which is installed in the seabed
by pumping water from the inside. The resulting pressure difference between the outside
and the inside is the driving force behind this installation.
In this exercise, the length of the suction pile is 10 m and the diameter is 5.0 m. An
anchor chain is attached on the side of the pile, 7 m from the top. The soil consists of
clay but because of the short duration of the load, an undrained stress analysis with
undrained strength parameters will be performed (Section 6.2 of the Reference Manual).
This exercise will investigate the displacement of the suction pile under working load
conditions. Four different angles of the working load will be considered. The installation
process itself will not be modelled. Only one symmetric half will be modelled. The
geometry for the problem is sketched in Figure 3.1.
Objectives:
• Using shape designer
• Using rigid body objects
• Undrained effective stress analysis with undrained strength parameters
• Undrained shear strength increasing with depth
• Copying material data sets
• Changing settings in Output
• Helper objects for local mesh refinements

z = -6.5 m α
z = -7.0 m
z = -7.5 m

z = -10 m
5.0 m

Figure 3.1 Geometry of the suction pile

3.1 GEOMETRY

An area of 30 m wide and 60 m long with half of the suction pile will be modelled in this
example. With these dimensions the model is sufficiently large to avoid any influence
from the model boundaries.

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Project properties
To define the geometry for this exercise, follow these steps:
• Start the Input program and select New project from the Create/Open project dialog
box.
• Enter an appropriate title for the exercise.
• Keep the standard units and set the model dimensions to xmin = -30 m, xmax = 30 m,
ymin = 0 m, ymax = 30 m.
• Click OK.

3.1.1 DEFINITION OF SOIL STRATIGRAPHY

In the current example only one horizontal soil layer is present. A single borehole is
sufficient to define it.
Create a borehole at (0 0 0). The Modify soil layers pops up.
• In the Modify soil layers window add a soil layer with top boundary at z = 0 m and
bottom boundary at z = -30 m.
• The water depth at the considered location is 50 m. This would imply that the head
is set to 50 m, but the results will be equal as long as the whole geometry is below
the water level. Hence, a head of 1.0 m would be sufficient. Set the head to 1.0 m.
Open the Material sets window and create the data sets given in Table 3.1. In the
Parameters tabsheet deselect the Tension cut-off option in the advanced
parameters for strength. In this exercise, the permeability of the soil will not
influence the results. Instead of using effective strength properties, the cohesion
parameter will be used in this example to model undrained shear strength.
Advanced parameters can be entered after expanding the Advanced data tree in the
Parameters tabsheet.

Hint: The Interface data set can be quickly created by copying the 'Clay' data set
and changing the Rinter value.

• Assign the 'Clay' material data set to the soil layer and close the Material sets
window.

3.1.2 DEFINITION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

The suction pile is modelled in the Structures mode as half a cylindrical surface and this
is then defined as a rigid body.

Create a suction pile

In the Structures mode the suction pile as a rigid body will be defined. This is done by
creating a polycurve at the soil surface and extruding it downward.
Click the Create polycurve button in the side toolbar.

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Table 3.1 Material properties of the clay layer and its interface
Parameter Name Clay Interface Unit
General
Material model Model Mohr-Coulomb Mohr-Coulomb −
Drainage type Type Undrained B Undrained B −
Soil weight γunsat , γsat 20 20 kN/m3
Parameters
Young's modulus E' 1000 1000 kN/m2
Poisson's ratio ν' 0.35 0.35 −
Shear strength su,ref 1.0 1.0 kN/m2
◦
Friction angle ϕu 0.0 0.0
◦
Dilatancy angle ψ 0.0 0.0
Increase in stiffness E 'inc 1000 1000 kN/m2 /m
Reference level zref 0.0 0.0 m
Increase in cohesion su,inc 4.0 4.0 kN/m2 /m
Reference level zref 0.0 0.0 m
Tension cut-off − Inactive Inactive −
Interfaces
Interface strength − Manual Rigid −
Interface strength reduction Rinter 0.7 1.0 −
Initial
K0 determination − Manual Manual −
Lateral earth pressure coeff. K0,x , K0,y 0.5 0.5 −

• Click at (2.5 0 0) on the draw area to define the insertion point. The Shape designer
window pops up.

Hint: From the Options menu, choose Visualization settings. Set the Intervals to 2,
while leaving the Spacing to 1 m. This allows to move the mouse with 0.5 m
interval.

• In the General tabsheet, the default option Free is valid for Shape.
• The polycurve is drawn in the xy-plane (Figure 3.2). Hence the default orientation
axes are valid for this example. For more information refer to Section 5.7.2 of
Reference Manual.
In the Segments tabsheet, click on the Add segment on the top toolbar.
• Set the Segment type to Arc, the Relative start angle to 90◦ , the Radius to 2.5 m
and the Segment angle to 180◦ (Figure 3.3).
• Click OK to add the polycurve to the geometry and to close the Shape desginer.
Click on the created polycurve and select the Extrude object and set the z value to
-10 m.
• Right click the created surface, and select Create positive interface to create a
positive interface for the suction pile. Similarly create a negative interface for the
surface.
• Right click the polycurve and select Close from the appearing menu. Further, right
click the closed polycurve and select Create surface. This creates the top surface of

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Figure 3.2 General tabsheet of the Shape designer

Figure 3.3 Segment tabsheet of the Shape designer

the suction pile.

To create the suction pile, the Rigid body functionality is used. For more information on
Rigid bodies, refer to Section 5.6.8 of the Reference Manual .
• Right click the top surface and create a negative surface.

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• Select the Interfaces in the Model explorer. In the Selection explorer tree, select
Custom for the Material mode from the dropdown menu.
• Select Interface for the Material from the dropdown menu (Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.4 Interface material assignment in Selection explorer

• Multi-select the top and the curved surface. Right click on the selected surfaces and
select the option Create rigid body from the appearing menu (Figure 3.5).

Figure 3.5 Rigid body creation

• In the Selection explorer, set the reference point as (2.5 0 -7) for the rigid bodies by
assigning the values to xref , yref and zref .
• Set the Translation conditiony to Displacement, the Rotation conditionx and Rotation
conditionz to Rotation . Their corresponding values are uy = φx = φz = 0 (Figure
3.6).

Create helper objects for local mesh refinements

A surface is created around the suction pile to achieve better mesh refinements. This is
done by creating a circular surface around the suction pile using the Shape designer.

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Figure 3.6 Rigid body in the Selection explorer

Click the Create polycurve button in the side toolbar and click on (7.5 0 0) in the
draw area.
• In the General tabsheet the default option for the shape (Free) and the default
orientation axes (x-axis, y-axis) are valid for this polycurve.
In the Segments tabsheet, click on the Add segment on the top toolbar. Set the
Segment type to Arc, Relative start angle to 90◦ , Radius to 7.5 m and Segment
angle to 180◦ .
Click Close polycurve from the top toolbar to close the polycurve.
• Click OK to add the polycurve to the geometry and to close the Shape desginer.
Click on the created polycurve and select the Extrude object and set the z value to
-15 m.
• Multi select the two created polycurves, right click and select Delete from the
appearing menu (Figure 3.7).
The geometry of the project is defined. A screenshot of the geometry is shown in Figure
3.8.

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Figure 3.7 Deleting the two created polycurves

Figure 3.8 Geometry of the suction pile

3.2 MESH GENERATION

In order to generate the mesh:

• Click on the Mesh tab to proceed to the Mesh mode.
• Hide the soil volume around the suction pile. Multi-select the suction pile, the
surface around the suction pile and the top surface of the suction pile.
• In the Selection explorer set the value of Coarseness factor to 0.25.
The element distribution is Medium. Generate the mesh.
• Proceed to the Staged construction mode.

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3.3 PERFORMING CALCULATIONS

The calculation for this exercise will consist of 6 phases. These are the determination of
initial conditions, the installation of the suction pile and four different load conditions. The
effect of the change of the load direction while keeping the magnitude unchanged will be
analysed.
• Click on the Staged construction tab to proceed with the definition of the calculation
phases. Keep the calculation type of the Initial phase to K0 procedure. Ensure that
all the structures and interfaces are switched off.
Add a new calculation phase and rename it as 'Install pile'.
• For this phase, we use the option of Ignore undrained behaviour.
• Activate all the rigid bodies and interfaces in the project.
Add a new phase and rename it as 'Load pile 30 degrees'.
• In the Phases window, check the Reset displacements to zero checkbox in the
Deformation control parameters subtree.
• Set the Solver type to Pardiso (multicore direct) to enable a faster calculation for this
particular project.
• In the Numerical control parameters subtree uncheck the Use default iter
parameters checkbox, which allows you to change advanced settings.
• Set the Max load fraction per step to 0.1.
• Click on the Rigid bodies in the Model explorer.
• In the Selection explorer tree, set Fx = 1949 kN and Fz = 1125 kN for the selected
rigid bodies.
• Define the remaining phases according to the information in Table 3.2. For each
phase select the Reset displacements to zero option and set Solver type to Pardiso
(multicore direct) and Max load fraction per step to 0.1.
The order of the phases is indicated in the Phases explorer (Figure 3.9). Calculation of
Phase_1 starts after the calculation of Initial phase is completed. The calculation of the
remaining phases starts after the calculation of the pile installation phase is completed.
Start the calculation process.
Save the project when the calculation is finished.
Table 3.2 Load information at the chain attachment point
Phase Start from phase Fx Fz
Load pile 30 degrees [Phase_2] Phase_1 1949 kN 1125 kN
Load pile 40 degrees [Phase_3] Phase_1 1724 kN 1447 kN
Load pile 50 degrees [Phase_4] Phase_1 1447 kN 1724 kN
Load pile 60 degrees [Phase_5] Phase_1 1125 kN 1949 kN

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Figure 3.9 Phases explorer

3.4 VIEWING THE RESULTS

To view the results:

• View the results of the last calculation phase. The deformed mesh of the whole
geometry will be shown. In particular, the displacements of the suction pile itself are
of interest.
Select the shadings representation and rotate the model such that the x−axis is
perpendicular to the screen.
• If the axes are not visible, select this option from the View menu. It is quite clear that
the point force acting on the pile does not disturb the displacement field locally
indicating that the pile is sufficiently thick here.
• In the same manner, the total displacements of the suction pile under a different
direction of the load can be inspected by selecting the appropriate phase from the
drop-down menu. In particular, <Phase_2> is of interest, as in this phase the
horizontal part of the load will have the largest value (Figure 3.10).

Figure 3.10 Total displacement of the suction pile at the end of Phase_2

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Hint: As an alternative for true 3D finite element calculations, the online tool
SPCalc from XG-Geotools provides a quick solution for multiple bearing
capacity calculations of suction piles. For more information see
www.xg-geotools.com.

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4 CONSTRUCTION OF A ROAD EMBANKMENT

The construction of an embankment on soft soil with a high groundwater level leads to an
increase in pore pressure. As a result of this undrained behaviour, the effective stress
remains low and intermediate consolidation periods have to be adopted in order to
construct the embankment safely. During consolidation the excess pore pressures
dissipate so that the soil can obtain the necessary shear strength to continue the
construction process.
This tutorial concerns the construction of a road embankment in which the mechanism
described above is analysed in detail. In the analysis two new calculation options are
introduced, namely a consolidation analysis and the calculation of a safety factor by
means of a safety analysis (phi/c-reduction). It also involves the modelling of drains to
speed up the consolidation process.

12 m 16 m 12 m

road embankment 4m
peat 3m
clay 3m
dense sand

Figure 4.1 Situation of a road embankment on soft soil

Objectives:
• Modelling drains
• Consolidation analysis
• Change of permeability during consolidation
• Safety analysis (phi-c reduction)

4.1 GEOMETRY

Figure 4.1 shows a cross section of a road embankment. The embankment is 16 m wide.
The slopes have an inclination of 1: 3. The problem is symmetric, so only one half is
modelled (in this case the right half is chosen). A representative section of 2 m is
considered in the project. The embankment itself is composed of loose sandy soil. The
subsoil consists of 6 m of soft soil. The upper 3 m of this soft soil layer is modelled as a
peat layer and the lower 3 m as clay. The phreatic level is located 1 m below the original
ground surface. Under the soft soil layers there is a dense sand layer of which 4 m are
considered in the model.
• Start the Input program and select Start a new project from the Quick select dialog
box.
• In the Project tabsheet of the Project properties window, enter an appropriate title.
• Keep the default units and set the model dimensions to xmin = 0, xmax = 60, ymin = 0
and ymax = 2.

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4.1.1 DEFINITION OF SOIL STRATIGRAPHY

The soil layers comprising the embankment foundation are defined using a borehole. The
embankment layers are defined in the Structures mode.
Create a borehole by clicking at (0 0 0). The Modify soil layers window pops up.
• Define three soil layers as shown in Figure 4.2.
• The water level is located at z = -1 m. In the borehole column specify a value of -1 to
Head.
Open the Material sets window.
• Create soil material data sets according to Table 4.1 and assign them to the
corresponding layers in the borehole (Figure 4.2).
• Close the Modify soil layers window and proceed to the Structures mode to define
the structural elements.

Figure 4.2 Soil layer distribution

Hint: The initial void ratio (einit ) and the change in permeability (ck ) should be
defined to enable the modelling of a change in the permeability due to
compression of the soil. This option is recommended when using advanced
models.

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Table 4.1 Material properties of the road embankment and subsoil

Parameter Name Embankment Sand Peat Clay Unit
General
Material model Model Hardening soil Hardening soil Soft soil Soft soil -
Drainage type Type Drained Drained Undr. (A) Undr. (A) -
Soil unit weight above γunsat 16 17 8 15 kN/m3
phreatic level
Soil unit weight below γsat 19 20 12 18 kN/m3
phreatic level
Initial void ratio einit 0.5 0.5 2.0 1.0 -
Parameters
ref
Secant stiffness in E50 2.5· 104 3.5· 104 - - kN/m2
standard drained
triaxial test
ref
Tangent stiffness for Eoed 2.5· 104 3.5· 104 - - kN/m2
primary oedometer
loading
ref
Unloading / reloading Eur 7.5· 104 1.05· 105 - - kN/m2
stiffness
Power for stress-level m 0.5 0.5 - - -
dependency of stiffness
Modified compression λ∗ - - 0.15 0.05 -
index
Modified swelling index κ∗ - - 0.03 0.01 -
Cohesion cref ' 1.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 kN/m2
◦
Friction angle ϕ' 30.0 33.0 23.0 25.0
◦
Dilatancy angle ψ 0.0 3.0 0.0 0.0
Advanced: Set to - Yes Yes Yes Yes -
default
Groundwater
Data set - USDA USDA USDA USDA -
Model - Van Van Van Van -
Genuchten Genuchten Genuchten Genuchten
Soil type - Loamy sand Sand Clay Clay -
< 2µm - 6.0 4.0 70.0 70.0 %
2µm − 50µm - 11.0 4.0 13.0 13.0 %
50µm − 2mm - 83.0 92.0 17.0 17.0 %
Set to default - Yes Yes No Yes -
Horizontal permeability kx 3.499 7.128 0.1 0.04752 m/day
(x-direction)
Horizontal permeability ky 3.499 7.128 0.1 0.04752 m/day
(y-direction)
Vertical permeability kz 3.499 7.128 0.05 0.04752 m/day
Change of permeability ck 1· 1015 1· 1015 1.0 0.2 -
Interfaces
Interface strength − Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid -
Strength reduction Rinter 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 -
factor
Initial
K0 determination − Automatic Automatic Automatic Automatic -
Over-consolidation ratio OCR 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 -
Pre-overburden POP 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 kN/m2
pressure

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4.1.2 DEFINITION OF EMBANKMENT AND DRAINS

The embankment and the drains are defined in the Structures mode. To define the
embankment layers:
Reorientate the model such that the front view is displayed by clicking the
corresponding button in the toolbar.
Create a surface by defining points at (0 0 0), (0 0 4), (8 0 4) and (20 0 0).
Create a line passing through (0 0 2) and (14 0 2) to define the embankment layers.
Select both the created line and surface by keeping the <Ctrl> key pressed while
clicking them in the model.
Click the Extrude object button.
• Assign a value of 2 to the y-component of the extrusion vector as shown in Figure
4.3 and click Apply.

Figure 4.3 Extrusion window

• Delete the surface and the line with its corresponding points that were created
before the extrusion.
• Right-click the volume created by extrusion and point to the Soil_4 option in the
appearing menu.
• A new menu is displayed. Point to the Set material option and select Embankment.
In this project the effect of the drains on the consolidation time will be investigated by
comparing the results with a case without drains. Drains will only be active for the
calculation phases in the case with drains.
Drains are arranged in a square pattern, having a distance of 2 m between two
consecutive drains in a row (or column). Only one row of drains will be considered in this
tutorial. To create the drain pattern:
Click the Create hydraulic conditions button in the side toolbar.
Click the Create line drain button in the appearing menu. Define a line drain in the
model between points (1 1 0) and (1 1 -6).
Click the Create array button to define the drain pattern.
• In the Create array window select the 1D, in x direction in the Shape drop-down
menu and specify the pattern as shown in Figure 4.4.

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