Numerical investigation into the failure of a micropile retaining wall

The paper presents a numerical investigation on the failure of a micropile wall that collapsed while excavating the adjacent ground. The main objectives are: to estimate the strength parameters of the ground; to perform a sensitivity analysis on the back slope height and to obtain the shape and position of the failure surface. Because of uncertainty of the original strength parameters, a simplified backanalysis using a range of cohesion/friction pairs has been used to estimate the most realistic strength parameters. The analysis shows that failure occurred because overestimation of strength and underestimation of loads.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Heat transport with advection in fractured rock

In the transport of heat in porous media, diffusion generally dominates over advection due to slow fluid velocities imposed by low permeability. This is the reason why standard Galerkin formulation leading to extra non-symmetric matrix terms may be still used successfully. However, in the presence of fractures the situation may be different. Fractures constitute preferential flow paths where fluid velocities may be significant and advection may become dominant over diffusion (“large advection” with Péclet number >1). This paper focuses on the formulation, numerical implementation and verification of a model to solve the steady-state heat transport problem with large advection along geomechanical discontinuities represented by zero-thickness interface elements. The fluid velocity field is considered as known input data (no hydraulic coupling). The existing SUPG method is modified for its application to zero-thickness interface elements, and the resulting formulation is implemented in an existing FE geomechanical code. An example of application is presented with large advection along a discontinuity crossing a low permeability domain. The results show that the proposed approach leads to stable results, in contrast to standard Galerkin

Numerical analysis of desiccation, shrinkage and cracking in low plasticity clayey soils

This paper presents a numerical study of the desiccation processes of low-plasticity clayey soils that usually result in shrinkage and often in cracking. For the theoretical development of the numerical model, concepts of Unsaturated Soils Mechanics and of classical Strength of Materials are used as a framework for formulating phenomena such as water flow in deformable porous media and cracking. The mathematical formulation of the problem and its implementation in a hydro-mechanical coupled model is presented, in order to simulate fluid flow and cracking in soils, for which the FEM and the node release technique is combined. The code developed has been used to perform several numerical analyses on radial sections of cylindrical soil specimens subjected to a drying process for which experimental laboratory data was available. The objective of these simulations is to determine the mechanisms by which the soil shrinks and cracks during desiccation. The results show the capabilities of the approach to reproduce the main features of the problem, with desiccation, shrinkage, and cracking being reproduced consistently during a desiccation cycle. The model also highlights the key role of the displacement and suction boundary conditions in the development of cracks as a consequence of tensile stress fields. Finally, the model has revealed the necessity of further research in the study of the soil-container and soil-atmosphere interaction in order to reproduce with more accuracy the changes in the main variable

Heat transport with advection in fractured rock

In the transport of heat in porous media, diffusion generally dominates over advection due to slow fluid velocities imposed by low permeability. This is the reason why standard Galerkin formulation leading to extra non-symmetric matrix terms may be still used successfully. However, in the presence of fractures the situation may be different. Fractures constitute preferential flow paths where fluid velocities may be significant and advection may become dominant over diffusion (“large advection” with Péclet number >1). This paper focuses on the formulation, numerical implementation and verification of a model to solve the steady-state heat transport problem with large advection along geomechanical discontinuities represented by zero-thickness interface elements. The fluid velocity field is considered as known input data (no hydraulic coupling). The existing SUPG method is modified for its application to zero-thickness interface elements, and the resulting formulation is implemented in an existing FE geomechanical code. An example of application is presented with large advection along a discontinuity crossing a low permeability domain. The results show that the proposed approach leads to stable results, in contrast to standard Galerkin.Postprint (published version

Transient large heat advection in fractured rock: a zero-thickness interface formulation

In a fractured rock mass, the existence of discontinuities may generate preferential paths where the hydraulic flow velocities are frequently much higher than in the porous medium and heat advection tends to dominate over heat diffusion. In these cases, the standard Galerkin FEM method leads to oscillatory results and requires the use of stabilization methods. Thus, the current paper introduces a 3-D formulation to solve the large advection problem for zero-thickness interface elements –which may be used to discretize fractures in a FEM context–, based on a pre-existent Characteristic method. A verification example is presented, showing that the formulation exhibits a good performance to represent the heat transport by the fluid along zero-thickness interface elements.This work was partially supported by research grant BIA2016-76543-R from MEC (Madrid), which includes European FEDER funds, and 2017SGR-1153 from Generalitat de Catalunya (Barcelona). The first author also acknowledges his FPU scholarship from MEC (Madrid).Postprint (published version

Boundary effects in the desiccation of soil layers with controlled environmental conditions

This article presents the results of an experimental research carried to investigate the mechanics of cracking of soil layers under drying conditions. The tests were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions and in an environmental chamber with circular and rectangular specimens to investigate the effect of the boundary conditions (size, shape, and aspect ratio of the specimens and containers) on the process of initiation and propagation of cracks and on the final crack pattern at the end of desiccation. The tests in the environmental chamber were conducted with imposed temperature and relative humidity and provided new insight into the mechanics of the formation of cracks in a drying soil, and they showed that cracks can initiate either at the top, bottom, or at both surfaces of the drying specimen. The results also reveal how the crack patterns are controlled by the existing mechanical and hydraulic boundary conditions. The cracks seem to form sequentially in patterns that can be explained by three key factors: stresses higher than the tensile strength, the direction of the generated stresses, and the stress redistribution in the vicinity or inside the newly formed domain. In order to substantiate the sequential nature of the crack pattern formation, experimental evidences showing the existence of a cracking sequence during the laboratory desiccation experiments are presented and analyzed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Numerical analysis of desiccation, shrinkage and cracking in low plasticity clayey soils

This paper presents a numerical study of the desiccation processes of low-plasticity clayey soils that usually result in shrinkage and often in cracking. For the theoretical development of the numerical model, concepts of Unsaturated Soils Mechanics and of classical Strength of Materials are used as a framework for formulating phenomena such as water flow in deformable porous media and cracking. The mathematical formulation of the problem and its implementation in a hydro-mechanical coupled model is presented, in order to simulate fluid flow and cracking in soils, for which the FEM and the node release technique is combined. The code developed has been used to perform several numerical analyses on radial sections of cylindrical soil specimens subjected to a drying process for which experimental laboratory data was available. The objective of these simulations is to determine the mechanisms by which the soil shrinks and cracks during desiccation. The results show the capabilities of the approach to reproduce the main features of the problem, with desiccation, shrinkage, and cracking being reproduced consistently during a desiccation cycle. The model also highlights the key role of the displacement and suction boundary conditions in the development of cracks as a consequence of tensile stress fields. Finally, the model has revealed the necessity of further research in the study of the soil-container and soil-atmosphere interaction in order to reproduce with more accuracy the changes in the main variables.Postprint (published version

Influence of cracking in the desiccation process of clay soils

It is well known that clayey soils undergoing desiccation tend to shrink and eventually crack. Analysis of the behaviour and influence of cracks in these types of soils is very important in several engineering fields such as mine tailing dams, long-term radioactive waste storage, impervious core of earth dams, and in any situation where clay is used as a barrier to fluid flow. Loss of humidity and cracking changes the permeability of such barriers that may no longer work properly and pose potentially high risks to property and lives. This paper presents an analysis of cracking during drying of soils using a computer code de-veloped within the framework of the finite element and finite differences methods. A study of the influence of crack initiation and propagation in the desiccation process is also undertaken, with a comparative analysis of the phenomenon both with and without crack generation that allows some preliminary conclusions about the desiccation problem. The computer code has been implemented within the MatLab environment. The formulation is based on the principles of the unsaturated soil mechanics and the mechanics of a continuum medium. The partial differential equations that govern the problem are solved using the finite element (Galerkin) method in space and the finite differences method, using the Crank-Nicholson scheme, in time. Further developments of the code will include fracture mechanics principles to simulate crack propagation.Postprint (published version

Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

This paper presents the fundamentals and the mathematical formulation to study desiccation cracking in soils based on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics as well as a numerical analysis of a previous desiccation test program. The numerical approach implemented in MATLAB is used in 2D simulations on radial sections of the cylindrical specimens and in a theoretical study of the stress field in plane strain conditions. The numerical analysis, based on two stress stare variables (total net stress and suction) is consistent and in good agreement with the experimental results, including the location of cracks and time of crack initiation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Experimental analysis of 3D cracking in drying soils using ground-penetrating radar

This paper describes the capabilities of a novel technique to investigate crack formation and propagation in drying soils. The technique is a relatively simple, non-destructive indirect technique using a ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) system to detect cracks that form and propagate inside a soil specimen during desiccation. Although GPR devices have been used for multiple applications, their use in soils for the detection of small desiccation cracks has not been demonstrated yet. The experiment and the methodology used to test the accuracy of a small compact commercial GPR device for crack identification are described. The main objective was to identify what type of signals and what crack width and separation between them can be detected using the GPR device. The results indicate that cracks of 1 or 2mm wide can be detected depending on its position and shape, whereas sub-millimeter cracks are undetectable with the currently existing devices in the market. Regardless of this limitation, the GPR method can be useful to find time-related bounds of when the cracks appear, to point at their location and sometimes at the separation between two of them. Detection of cracks with origin at the bottom or within the specimen was accomplished with this system. Distances of 5 cm or more between cracks can be detected and measured, as well, with accuracy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft