MODELLING OF EXCAVATIONS

USING PLAXIS
William Cheang
PlaxisAsia

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODES

1. 2-D Analysis + Modules

Plaxis Professional 8.x

PlaxFlow 1
1.x
x
Dynamics

2. 3-D Analysis

3D Foundation (Full control of X-Z space)

3D Tunnel (Full control of X-Y space)

3 Other programs supporting Plaxis

3.
1. Delft Geosystems (M-Series Codes + M-Geometry
Input.) [see Http://www.delftgeosystems.nl]

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

Modelling of Excavations:
Introduction to methods, tools and procedure.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Modelling of Excavations in Plaxis

Model Space
Continuum, Structural & Membrane Elements
Loads and Porewater Pressure Boundaries
Constitutive Models
Demonstration

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

A. Modelling of Excavations in Plaxis

The geometry is the representation of the physical
problem
Consists of points, lines and clusters
Definition of soil layers, structural elements and loads

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

B.Model Space-Part 1
Plaxis Professional Version 8.x (2D
code)
Plane Strain
Axi-symmetry

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

B.Model Space-Part 2
3D Foundation (X-Z space)

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

B.Model Space-Part 3
3D Tunnel (X-Y space)
y

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

C. Elements in Plaxis

Continuum
S
Structural
l
Interfaces
Membrane (Geogrid)

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

C1.Continuum Elements
Mesh
66-noded
d d or 15-noded
15 d d triangular
ti
l elements
l
t
Displacements calculate in nodes
Stresses calculated in Gaussian integration points

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

Plaxis Vietnam 2008

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C2.Structural elements in Plaxis

Plates and shells

Anchors
Geogrids (geotextiles)
Interfaces

geotextile
strut wall

ground
anchor
anchored
wall

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

cofferdam

Plates and shells

3 or 5 noded line elements

3 degrees of freedom per node
Elastic or elastoplastic behaviour
To model walls, floors, tunnels

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Plaxis Vietnam 2008

Input parameters for plates

Flexural rigidity
Normal
N
l stiffness
iff
Element thickness

EI = E

h3 b
(b=1 m)
12

EA = E h b (b=1 m)
d = h = 12

EI
EA

h
b
b = 1 m in plane strain
b = 1 meter in axisymmetry
b

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Plate weights
Compensate for overlap:
w = ( concrete soil ) d real

For soil weight use:

unsat above phreatic level
sat below phreatic level

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Fixed-end anchors
To model supports, anchors and struts
El
Elasto-plastic
t l ti spring
i element
l
t
One end fixed to point in the geometry,
other end is fully fixed for displacement
Positioning at any angle
Pre-stressing option

strut
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Node-to-node anchors
To model anchors, columns and rods
El
Elasto-plastic
t l ti spring
i element
l
t
Connects two geometry points in
the geometry
Pre-stressing option

anchored wall

cofferdam

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Anchor material properties

Normal stiffness, EA (for one anchor)
Spacing, Ls (distance between anchors)
Maximum anchor force for compression
and tension, |Fmax,comp| and |Fmax,tens|

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

[kN]
[m]
[kN]

Pre-stressing of anchors
Defined in Staged construction phase
Both
B h tension
i (grout
(
anchor)
h ) or compression
i (strut)
(
)
possible

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C3. Membrane Elements (Geogrids)

3 or 5 noded line element

Linear elastic behaviour
No flexural rigidity (EI), only normal stiffness (EA)
Only allows for tension, not for compression
Soil/Geogrid interaction may be modelled using interfaces

geotextile wall
PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

ground anchor
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C4.Interfaces
Try to omit stress oscillations at corners of stiff
structures
Inflexible corner
points, causing bad
stress results

Flexible corner points

with improved stress
results

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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C4.Interfaces
Soil-structure interaction
Wall
W ll friction
f i ti
Slip and gapping between soil and structure

Soil material properties

Taken from soil using reduction factor Rinter
Cinter
= Rinter * Csoil
tan()
()inter
= Rinter * tan()
()soil
Individual material set for interface

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C4.Interfaces
Suggestions for Rinter:

Interaction sand/steel
= Rinter 00.66 0.7
07
Interaction clay/steel
= Rinter 0.5
Interaction sand/concrete = Rinter 1.0 0.8
Interaction clay/concrete
= Rinter 1.0 0.7
Interaction soil/geogrid
= Rinter 1.0
(interface may not be required)
Interaction soil/geotextile = Rinter 0.9 0.5 (foil, textile)

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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C5.Combining
g Elements
Example 1: Ground anchors
Example 2: Thick walls (Sandwich method)

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Example 1: Ground anchors

Combination of node-to-node anchor and geogrid
Node-to-node
Node to node anchor represents anchor rod (no interaction
with surrounding soil)
Geogrid represents grout body (full interaction with grid
No interface around grout body; interface would create
unrealistic failure surface

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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Combined Elements:Ground anchors

Input geometry

real distribution of axial forces in ground anchor

axial forces in geotextile element

Axial forces in ground anchors

Generated mesh
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Anchor material properties

Normal stiffness, EA (for one anchor)
Spacing, Ls (distance between anchors)
Maximum anchor force for compression
and tension, |Fmax,comp| and |Fmax,tens|

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

[kN]
[m]
[kN]

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Pre-stressing of anchors
Defined in Staged construction phase
Both
B h tension
i (grout
(
anchor)
h ) or compression
i (strut)
(
)
possible

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Example 2: Thick Walls

E1=real

Scaled-down E2=fictitious
(Try E2= 0.01 to 0.1 E1, to avoid double value)

Aim: Expedite data extraction like displacements, bending moments, axial & shear forces
(but be careful!. Disp.=Correct. But F,S, M (Scale back to the correct value because E2=0.01 to 0.1 of E1)

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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D B
D.
Boundaries:
d i Fixity,
Fi it Loads
L d andd PWP

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D1.Input boundary conditions

Default fixities

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D2.Input loads

Point force A & B

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D3.Porewater Generation
Wet excavation
Impermeable
I
bl (concrete)
(
t ) excavation
ti floor
fl

Dry excavation
Undisturbed water table outside excavation
Drawdown outside excavation

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D4.Options
A. Steady-state condition (Default)

General phreatic level

Applies to all clusters that have not been separately defined.

Localised
L li d / Cluster
Cl
phreatic
h
i level
l l
Applies to one specific cluster.

Localised / Cluster dry

Makes a specific cluster dry.

Interpolate

Interpolate pore pressures between clusters above and below.

User-defined pore pressure

S if pressure pref att level

Specify
l l yref andd increase
i
pinc per meter
t in
i y-direction.
di ti

B. Transient-state condition (Plaxis + Plaxflow Integration)

Same input procedure

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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D5.Wet excavation
Excavate without changing water conditions (in
stages or at once)
Pore pressures outside excavated area remain
unchanged

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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D6.Dry excavation
Undisturbed water table outside excavation
For every excavation phase do
Excavate soil
Set excavated area dry
Define area just below excavation floor as interpolate between
lines or clusters
Suitable for short-term excavations in low
permeability
bili soils
il

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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D6.Dry excavation
Undisturbed water table outside excavation
dry
interpolate

GPL

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D6.Dry excavation
Disturbed water table outside excavation - Drawdown
For every excavation phase do
Excavate soil
Define boundary conditions (heads)
Perform groundwater flow analysis.
Suitable for long-term excavations or excavations in
high permeability soils

Simplified alternative:
Draw GPL according to expected groundwater level and generate pore
pressures based on GPL.

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D6.Dry excavation
Drawdown outside excavation

Groundwater flow calculation gives steady-state solution,

so for time is infinite!

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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E.Constitutive Soil Models

Linear Elastic
M h C l b (MCM)
Mohr-Coulomb
Hardening Soil Model (HSM)
Soft-Soil Creep (SSCM)
Soft-Soil (SSM)
g Soil + Small Strain Overlayy (HSsmallM)
(
)
Hardening
Jointed Rock Model

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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Excavation Modelling:
g Workflow

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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Model: Points
Points

Start and end of lines.

Positioning of anchors
Point forces
forces,
Point fixities

Local refinements of the finite element mesh.

Model: Lines
Lines

Define
fi the
h physical
h i l boundaries
b
d i off the
h geometry
Define discontinuities in the geometry:
Sheet pile walls, distributed loads
Separations of distinct soil layers or construction stages.
A line can have several functions or properties
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General modelling aspects

Clusters
A
Automatically
t
ti ll generated
t d enclosed
l d areas
Homogeneous soil properties.

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Input

Composing
C
i a geometry model
d l
Creating and assigning data sets
Generating a finite element mesh
Generating initial conditions

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Example:

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Composing a geometry model

Graphical input of geometry contour, soil- layers,
construction
t ti stages,
t
plates,
l t geogrids,
id interfaces,
i t f
anchors
h
Designer for circular or non-circular tunnels
Input of loads and boundary conditions

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 Geometry lines (between soil layers, etc.)

Plates (Walls, Plates & Shells)
Hinges (free rotation between beams)
Geogrids
Interface
I t f
elements
l
t (soil-structure
( il t t
interaction)
i t
ti )
Anchors (node-to-node, fixed end)

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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Creating and assigning material data

sets
Enter model parameters as data sets in a material data
base
Assigning data sets to geometry components by means of
drag and drop

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Generating a finite element mesh

Fully automatic mesh generation based on geometry

model
Global and local refinement options

PLAXIS FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR SOIL AND ROCK ANALYSES

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Generating initial conditions

Generating initial pore pressures by means of phreatic line

or groundwater flow calculation
Flip switch - gives: Initial stresses and geometry mode

Setting initial geometry configuration

Generating initial stresses (K0 procedure)

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Defining calculation phases

Plastic calculation, Consolidation, Phi/c reduction and
Dynamic analysis.
Updated mesh.
Loading input: Multipliers or Staged Construction.
Changing water conditions
Multiple calculation phases can be pre-defined and executed
at once.

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Stress paths
Construction phases:
I 1st excavation

II Pre-stressing anchor
III Final excavation
v

Point A

Kactive K 0
Point A
II
I

Point B

K=1

III

Point B

K
passive

h
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Calculation program

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Output program

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View results
Graphical and tabulated output of displacements,
stresses and structural forces
Output in cross sections
Multiple output windows can be opened
simultaneously (comparison of results)

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Demonstration : Anchored Sheet-pile Wall

See demonstration

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Thank You!

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