Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Handoutplaxisintroductioncoursesession11588260523519 PDF
Handoutplaxisintroductioncoursesession11588260523519 PDF
Introduction to PLAXIS 2D
Part 1
Program structure
1.PLAXIS Input
• Definition of the problem (physical representation)
• Definition of the building process:
• Initial situation
• Construction stages
2.PLAXIS Output
• View results of:
• the entire model at a specific moment during construction
• one specific point during the whole construction process (history)
PLAXIS 2D Input
General toolbar
Mode switches
Selection explorer
Model explorer
Command line
SOIL STRUCTURES
• Model Explorer
• Graphical overview of the complete model and the objects that it contains.
• Selection Explorer
• As Model explorer, but only for the current selection of objects
• For managing any objects created in the model:
– shows number of materials, loads
– Showing, hiding or deleting model items
– Renaming model items
– Changing properties of model items
(load values, water height, material sets, …)
Command line
• Commands
– All actions using the mouse or the explorers are translated into commands.
– Direct input of commands possible using command line:
• Session tab: commands executed in the current session
• Model history tab: all the commands executed in the project
– Help → Command reference for all available commands and syntax
Soil Mode
Soil mode
• Definition of subsoil
– Using boreholes
– Import of soil volumes
• Boreholes ( )
– Soil layering + water table at specific location
– Multiple boreholes: interpolation of soil layers between boreholes
– Each soil layer is used in every borehole (but may have zero thickness).
Material type
• Soil & interfaces
• Plates
• Geotextiles
• Anchors
• Embedded beam
rows
10
• Material data sets can be stored in a global database for use in other projects
Show global
11
12
Structures Mode
13
Defining structures
• Points
– Generated by clicking the Create point button.
– Used for Point loads, Point prescribed displacements and Fixed-end anchors.
• Lines
– Generated by clicking the Create line button.
– Used to define Beams, Line loads, Line prescribed displacements, Node-to-node anchors
and Embedded piles.
14
Select
Select multiple objects
Move objects
Create array
Create point
Create line
Create soil polygon
Create tunnel
Create load
Create prescribed displacement
Create structure
Create hydraulic condition
Create thermal flow boundary conditions
Create connection
15
• Default boundary conditions can be overwritten by specifying Prescribed displacements on the soil contour
16
Structures - types
Interface
Node-to-node anchor
17
Importing Geometry
18
19
• Global coarseness:
– Defines an average element size based on model dimensions
• Local refinement (Coarseness factor):
– Element size can be locally refined or coarsened
– Element size factor = (Coarseness factor) * (Global coarseness)
• Color code
– Different color in the Draw area refined
Not refined
to represent refinement.
• Green = refined, lighter = finer
• Yellow = coarsened, lighter = coarser
coarsened
20
First Exercise
21
22
3. Create borehole
23
4. Material properties
24
4. Create footing
25
6. Inspect mesh
26
27
8. Add
calculation
phases
9. Define
calculation
phases
28
29
ELASTOPLASTIC ANALYSIS OF A
FOOTING
Computational Geotechnics 1
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
2 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
INTRODUCTION
One of the simplest forms of a foundation is the shallow foundation. In this exercise we will
model such a shallow foundation with a width of 2 meters and a length that is sufficiently long
in order to assume the model to be a plane strain model. The foundation is put on top of a 4m
thick clay layer. The clay layer has a saturated weight of 18 kN/m3 and an angle of internal
friction of 200 .
The foundation carries a small building that is being modelled with a vertical point force.
Additionally a horizontal point force is introduced in order to simulate any horizontal loads
acting on the building, for instance wind loads. Taking into account that in future additional
floors may be added to the building the maximum vertical load (failure load) is assessed. For
the determination of the failure load of a strip footing analytical solutions are available from for
instance Vesic, Brinch Hansen and Meyerhof:
Qf
B
= c ∗ Nc + 12 γ 0 B ∗ Nγ
0
Nq = eπ tan ϕ tan2 (45 + 12 ϕ0 )
0
q − 1) cot ϕ
Nc = (N
0
2(Nq + 1) tan ϕ
(V esic)
Nγ = 1.5(Nq − 1) tan ϕ0 (Brinch Hansen)
(Nq − 1) tan(1.4 ϕ0 ) (M eyerhof )
This leads to a failure load of 117 kN/m2 (Vesic), 98 kN/m2 (Brinch Hansen) or 97 kN/m2
(Meyerhof) respectively.
Computational Geotechnics 3
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
SCHEME OF OPERATIONS
This exercise illustrates the basic idea of a finite element deformation analysis. In order to
keep the problem as simple as possible, only elastic perfectly-plastic behaviour is considered.
Besides the procedure to generate the finite element mesh, attention is paid to the input of
boundary conditions, material properties, the actual calculation and inspection of some output
results.
Aims
• Input
* Create footing
* Create load
– Mesh mode
* Generate mesh
– Staged construction mode
– Inspect deformations
– Inspect failure mechanism
– Inspect load-displacement curve
4 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
INPUT
Introduction
Start PLAXIS 2D by double-clicking the icon of the PLAXIS 2D Input program. The Quick
select dialog box will appear in which you can select to start an new project or open an
existing one. Choose Start a new project (see Figure 2). Now the Project properties window
appears, consisting of the two tabsheets Project and Model (see Figure 3 and Figure 4).
Project properties
The first step in every analysis is to set the basic parameters of the finite element model.
This is done in the Project properties window. These settings include the description of the
problem, the type of analysis, the basic type of elements, the basic units and the size of the
drawing area.
Project tabsheet
In the Project tabsheet, enter “Exercise 1” in the Title box and type “Elasto-plastic analysis of
a drained footing” or any other text in the Comments box.
Model tabsheet
• In the Type box the type of the analysis (Model) and the basic element type (Elements)
are specified. As this exercise concerns a strip footing, choose Plane strain from the
Model combo box. Select 15-node from the Elements combo box.
Computational Geotechnics 5
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
• The Units box defines the units for length, force and time that have to be used in this
project. There is a choice for several units, both metric and emperial.
For this project use the default units (Length = m; Force = kN; Time = day). The other
units (Temperature, Energy, Power and Mass) are not used in this exercise.
• In the Contour box the size of the considered geometry must be entered. The values
entered here determine the size of subsoil input window. PLAXIS will automatically add
a small margin so that the geometry will fit well within the draw area. Enter xmin =0.00,
xmax =14.00, ymin =0.00 and ymax =4.25, see figure 4
• Click on the OK button below the tabsheets to close the Project properties window.
Hint: In the case of a mistake or for any other reason that the project properties
should be changed, you can access the Project properties window by
selecting the Project properties option from the File menu.
Soil Mode
The program is now in Soil mode in which the subsoil should be created. As shown in figure
1 the subsoil consist of a single 4m thick clay layer and creating this layer is done in 2 steps:
first the soil layer is defined through the definition of a borehole, after which the material set
representing the clay is defined and assigned to the appropriate layer.
• Select the button Create borehole ( ) and click in the drawing area on the origin to
indicate a borehole should be created there. The Modify soil layers window opens, see
6 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
figure 5. Intially this window is empty as no boreholes have been defined yet for this
project.
• Now click the Add button in order to add a layer to the borehole.
• On the Soil layers tabsheet the different soil layers present in the borehole must be
defined. In this exercise there is only 1 soil layer with the Top at 4.0m and the Bottom at
0.0m, see figure 6.
• On the left side of the Modify soil layers window there is a graphical representation of
the borehole. Note that the soil layer does not have a soil material assigned yet.
Computational Geotechnics 7
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
• Above the borehole the Head option specifies the position of the global water level in
this borehole. In this exercise it is assumed that the phreatic level is at groundlevel, so
the Head must be set equal to 4.0 to indicate that the phreatic level is at ground level.
Figure 6: The Modify soil layers window with 1 borehole containing 1 soil layer
• Now press the <OK> button to close the Modify soil layers window. The drawing area
now shows a grey rectangular subsoil.
• Select the Show materials button ( ) - the Material sets window will open. The list of
material sets available for this project is still empty.
• Click on the New button at the lower side of the Material Sets window. A new dialog box
will appear with five tabsheets: General, Parameters, Flow parameters, Interfaces and
Initial (see figure 7).
• In the Material Set box of the General tabsheet, write “Clay” in the Identification box.
• Select Mohr-Coulomb from the Material model combo box and Drained from the Material
type combo box.
• Enter the proper values for the weights in the General properties box according to the
material properties listed in table 1
8 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Figure 7: General tabsheet of the soil and interface data set window for Clay
• Click on either the Next button or click on the Parameters tabsheet to proceed with
the input of model parameters. The parameters appearing on the Parameters tabsheet
depend on the selected material model (in this case the Mohr-Coulomb model).
• Enter the model parameters of table 1 in the corresponding edit boxes of the Parameters
tabsheet. The parameters in the Alternatives and Velocities group are automatically
calculated from the parameters entered earlier.
• See also figure 8. In this figure the Advanced parameters part has been collapsed.
• Since the geometry model does not include groundwater flow or interfaces, the third and
fourth tabsheet can be skipped. Click on the OK button to confirm the input of the current
material data set.
• Now the created data set will appear in the tree view of the Material Sets window.
For the concrete of the footing repeat the procedure, but choose a Linear Elastic material
behaviour and enter the properties for concrete as shown in table 1 (see also figures 9 and
10).
Computational Geotechnics 9
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Table 1: Material properties of the clay layer and the concrete footing.
Figure 9: General tabsheet of the soil and interface data set window for Concrete
10 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Figure 8: Parameters tabsheet of the soil and interface data set window for Clay
Figure 10: Parameters tabsheet of the soil and interface data set window for Concrete
• Now from the Material sets window drag the Clay material set with the mouse over the
grey subsoil and drop it. The subsoil should now get the colour of the material set, see
figure 11.
Computational Geotechnics 11
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Figure 11: Subsoil before (left) and after (right) assigning the Clay material set
This ends the creation of the subsoil in Soil mode. By clicking on the Structures tabsheet now
move to Structures mode.
Structures mode
Introduction
In Structures mode the footing as well as the point load acting on the footing will be created.
However, first an adjustment to the snapping interval must be made in order to be able to draw
the 0.25m thick footing. By default, the snapping interval is set to 1m.
• From the grid options below the drawing area, make sure the option Snap to grid is
activated.
• Now select the Snapping options button ( ) from the grid option. The Snapping window
now opens.
• Set the Number of snap intervals to 4. This means that every spacing of 1 meter is
divided in 4, hence the snapping distance will be 0.25m.
• Click the <OK> button to confirm the new settings and close the window.
Create footing
1. Select the Create soil polygon button ( ) and from the drop-down list that opens now
select the Create soil rectangle button ( ).
2. Move the mouse cursor to the coordinates (x y) = (6 4) and single-click the left mouse
button
12 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
3. Now move the mouse cursor to the coordinates (x y) = (8 4.25) and single-click the left
mouse button again. We have now created the footing.
4. Select the Show materials button ( ), the Material sets window will open.
Create load
1. Select the Create point button ( ) and from the drop-down list that opens select the
Create point load option.
2. Move the mouse cursor to the coordinates (x y) = (7 4.25) and single-click the left mouse
button to insert the point load.
This concludes the creation of the footing and loads. By clicking on the Mesh tabsheet now
move to Mesh mode.
Mesh mode
In Mesh mode the user can specify necessary mesh refinements and generate the mesh. In
this exercises no additional mesh refinement will be used.
• Select the Generate mesh button ( ). The Mesh options window will open.
• Leave the Element distribution to Medium and press <OK> to start mesh generation
• If mesh generation finished succesfully this will be confirmed in the Command explorer
with the message "Generated XX elements, YY nodes" where XX and YY stand for the
amount of elements and nodes respectively.
• Select the View mesh button ( ) in order to view the generated mesh, see figure ??.
Close the mesh window by selecting the green <Close> button. This ends the Mesh mode.
As no water levels will be used in this exercise, the Water levels mode can be skipped and we
can move directly to Staged construction mode to define the calculation phases.
Computational Geotechnics 13
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Initial phase
The initial phase represents the field conditions that exist at the moment our project starts.
This means that only the subsoil exists in the initial conditions whereas the footing should be
deactivated, which is the default situation.
• In the Phase explorer select the Add phase button ( ) so that a new phase will be
added.
• Right-click on the footing and from the drop-down menu that appears select the option
Activate to activate the footing, see figure 13.
Figure 13: Geometry configuration for the initial phase (left) and phase 1 (right)
14 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
• In the Phase explorer select the Add phase button ( ) so that a new phase will be
added.
• Click on the point on which the load acts so that it becomes red. On the left side the data
of the load now appears in the Selection explorer.
• Activate the point load and set the value of the vertical component, Fy,ref = -50 kN (=
downwards), see figure 14.
Figure 14: Activating and changing the point load through the Selection explorer in phase 2
(left) and phase 3 (right)
• Click on the point on which the load acts so that it becomes red. On the left side the data
of the load again appears in the Selection explorer.
• Set the value of the horizontal component of the point load, Fx,ref = 20 kN, see figure 14.
The load is now inclined.
Computational Geotechnics 15
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
• In the Phase explorer select phase 2 so that it will show in bold letter type
• Now select the Add phase button ( ) so that a new phase will be added that follows on
phase 2 rather than on phase 3.
• Click on the point on which the load acts so that it becomes red. On the left side the data
of the load again appears in the Selection explorer.
• Set the value of the vertical component of the point load, Fy,ref = -500 kN. Note that
Fx,ref should remain 0 (zero).
This finishes the definition of the calculation phases for this project.
Calculation
Load-displacement curves
As a calculation result we would like to draw a load-settlement curve for the footing. In order
to do so, the user must select one or more points for which Plaxis has to gather data during
the calculation:
• Select the Select points for curves button ( ). The output program now opens, showing
the mesh with all nodes.
• Select the node in the middle underneath the footing, hence at or very close to (x y) = (7
4). The node will appear in the Select points list, see figure 15.
• Close Plaxis Output by clicking the green <Update> button at the top left.
16 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Calculate
Computational Geotechnics 17
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
RESULTS
Output
After the calculation finishes, click the View calculation results button ( ). Plaxis Output
will open, showing the calculation results of the last calculation phase.
By default Plaxis Output will show the Defomed mesh, see figure 16. If this is not the case the
Deformed mesh can be shown by choosing the menu Deformations → Deformed mesh |u|.
Now choose the menu option Deformations→ Incremental displacements→|∆u|, see figure
17.
The incremental displacements is the change in displacements in the current calculation
step (here that is the last calculation step of the phase 4). Under working conditions the
change of displacement per calculation step is quite small, but in case of failure, the change of
displacements can be large inside the failure zone. Therefore the Incremental displacements
graph can be very suitable for detecting whether failure occurs and what the failure zone may
look like. Figure 17 shows the typical Prandtl-like failure zone.
Finally, we will inspect the load-settlement curve and determine the failure load. To do so,
follow these steps:
• From the button bar select the Curves manager button ( ). The Curves manager will
open.
• In the Curves manager select the <New> button in order to generate a new curve. Now
the Curve generation window opens.
• In the Curve generation window, select for the x-axis data the node chosen prior to the
calculation (instead of Project data) from the drop down list.
18 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Figure 17: Incremental displacements for the final calculation step of phase 4
• For the y-axis we will plot a Project value, and that is the Multiplier ΣM stage.
In a Plaxis calculation any change made in a construction phase leads to a so-called unbalance,
that is a disturbance between the total of the internal stresses and the external load. This
unbalance is gradually solved using the ΣM stage multiplier. The ΣM stage multiplier indicates
how much of the unbalance has been solved, where ΣM stage = 0 indicates that no unbalance
was solved and ΣM stage = 1 that the full unbalance has been solved.
Computational Geotechnics 19
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
In the curve shown in figure 18 the lines at the left indicate the variation of ΣM stage for the first
3 calculation phases, where as the long curved line shows the variation of ΣM stage during
the final phase.
It shows that at failure occurs when ΣM stage = 0.38, hence 38% of the unbalance was solved.
In this case the unbalance applied was the increase of the vertical load from 50 kN/m to 500
kN/m. Hence, at failure the total load applied is the load at the beginning of the phase (50
kN/m) plus 38% of the change of load that could be applied: Fmax = 50 + 0.38 · (500 − 50) = 221
kPa
The exact value of the ΣM stage multiplier can be inspected by moving the mouse cursor over
the plotted line. A tooltip box will show up with the data of the current location.
Comparison
In addition to the mesh used in this exercise calculations were performed using a very coarse
mesh with a local refinement at the bottom of the footing and a very fine mesh. Fine meshes
will normally give more accurate results than coarse meshes. Instead of refining the whole
mesh, it is generally better to refine the most important parts of the mesh, in order to reduce
computing time. Here we see that the differences are small (when considering 15-noded
elements), which means that we are close to the exact solution. The accuracy of the 15-
noded element is superior to the 6-noded element, especially for the calculation of failure
loads.
Hint: In plane strain calculations, but even more significant in axi-symmetric
calculations, for failure loads, the use of 15-noded elements is recommended.
The 6-noded elements are known to overestimate the failure load, but are ok
for deformations at serviceability states.
Table 2: Results for the maximum load reached on a strip footing on the drained sub-soil for
different 2D meshes
20 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
From the above results it is clear that fine FE meshes give more accurate results. On the other
hand the performance of the 15-noded elements is superior over the performance of the lower
order 6-noded elements. Needless to say that computation times are also influenced by the
number and type of elements.
Computational Geotechnics 21
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE:
UNDRAINED FOOTING
22 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
INTRODUCTION
When saturated soils are loaded rapidly, the soil body will behave in an undrained manner, i.e.
excess pore pressures are being generated. In this exercise the special PLAXIS feature for
the treatment of undrained soils is demonstrated.
SCHEME OF OPERATIONS
In PLAXIS, one generally enters effective soil properties and this is retained in an undrained
analysis. In order to make the behaviour undrained one has to select ‘undrained A’ as the type
of drainage. Please note that this is a special PLAXIS option as most other FE-codes require
the input of undrained parameters e.g. Eu and νu .
Aims
• The understanding and application of undrained soil behaviour
• Soil mode
• Mesh mode
• Output
Soil mode
Computational Geotechnics 23
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
INPUT
Use previous input file
If PLAXIS Input is no longer open, start PLAXIS by clicking on the icon of the Input program
and select the existing project file from the last exercise (drained footing). From the File menu
select Save As and save the existing project under a new file name (e.g. ‘exercise 1b’).
• Change material properties by selecting the Show materials button ( ). Please note
that this button is only available in Soil mode, Structures mode and Staged construction
mode.
• From the Material sets window, select the ’Clay’ and click on the <Edit> button.
• In the Soil window that opened on the first tab sheet (General) change the Drainage
type to "Undrained A" and close the data set.
Mesh generation
The mesh generator in PLAXIS allows for several degrees of refinement. In this example
we will globally refine the mesh, resulting in an increased number of finite elements to be
distributed along the geometry lines:
• Select the Generate mesh button ( ) and in the Mesh settings window choose Fine
for the Elements distribution.
Calculation
• Go to the Staged construction mode. All phases are indicated by (blue arrows)
After mesh (re)generation, staged construction settings remain and phase information is rewritten
automatically for the newly generated mesh. However, this is not the case for points for load
displacement curves due to the new numbering of the mesh nodes.
• Click on the Select points for curves button ( ) in the toolbar. Reselect the node
located in the centre directly underneath the footing
24 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
OUTPUT
As mentioned in the introduction of this example, the compressibility of water is taken into
account by assigning ’undrained’ behaviour to the clay layer. This normally results, after
loading, in excess pore pressures. The excess pore pressures may be viewed in the output
window by selecting:
• Select in the Phases explorer the phase for which you would like to see output results.
• Start the output program by clicking the View calculation results button ( ).
• In PLAXIS Output, select from the Stresses menu the option Pore pressures and then
pexcess , this results in figure 19.
The excess pore pressures may be viewed as contour lines ( ), shadings ( ), stress
crosses ( ) or as tabulated output ( ). If, in general, stresses are tensile stresses the
principal directions are drawn with arrow points. It can be seen that after phase 3 on the
left side of the footing there are excess pore tensions due to the horizontal movement of the
footing. The total pore pressures are visualised using the option of active pore pressures.
These are the sum of the steady state pore pressures as generated from the phreatic level
and the excess pore pressures as generated from undrained loading.
Figure 19: Excess pore pressures at the end of the 3rd phase
• Select from the Stresses menu the option Pore pressures and then pactive . The results
are given in figure 20.
Computational Geotechnics 25
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
From the load displacement curve it can be seen that the failure load in the last phase is
considerably lower for this undrained case compared to the drained situation, as expected.
For the undrained case the maximum load is just under 70 kN/m, which means the failure load
is about 40 kPa.
Figure 20: Active pore pressures at the end of the 3rd phase
26 Computational Geotechnics
Elastoplastic analysis of a footing
Qf
B
= c · Nc + 12 γ 0 B · Nγ
0
Nq = eπ tan ϕ tan2 (45 + 12 ϕ0 )
0
q − 1) cot ϕ
Nc = (N
0
2(Nq + 1) tan ϕ
(V esic)
Nγ = 1.5(Nq − 1) tan ϕ0 (Brinch Hansen)
(Nq − 1) tan(1.4 ϕ0 ) (M eyerhof )
γ 0 = γw − 10 kN/m3 = 18 − 10 = 8 kN/m3
Computational Geotechnics 27
03 Introduction to Plaxis 2D (part 2) 4/20/2020
Introduction to PLAXIS 2D
Part 2
Program structure
1.PLAXIS Input
• Definition of the problem (physical representation)
• Definition of the building process:
• Initial situation
• Construction stages
2.PLAXIS Output
• View results of:
• the entire model at a specific moment during construction
• one specific point during the whole construction process (history)
SOIL STRUCTURES
Water Levels
• K0 procedure
Initial stresses based on soil weight
• Gravity loading
Initial stresses based on equilibrium
• Field stress
Direct input of (constant) , , , and ,
• Flow only
Initial phase and all other phase are only groundwater flow calculation phases – no deformation,
stability etc.
• Plastic calculation
General deformation analysis, perfectly drained or perfectly undrained
• Consolidation
Time-dependent pore pressure dissipation.
• Fully-coupled flow-deformation analysis
Time-dependent analysis including deformation, consolidation and transient flow
• Dynamic analysis
Application of dynamics loads, for instance harmonic loads or earthquake loads.
• Safety
Determination of the factor of safety at a certain stage in the construction process
10
11
Phase explorer
(phase list)
Make changes
12
13
14
• Time interval:
specify a construction time
(for dynamics, consolidation and time-dependent soil behaviour – creep)
15
PLAXIS Output
16
17
• Report generator
• Animations
18
19
Choose between
- forces in this phases
- force envelope
Minimum/maximum value
20
21
Minimum/maximum value
22
Questions?
23
• Anchors
wall
• Geogrids (geotextiles)
• Interfaces
strip footing
tunnel
2 | WWW.BENTLEY.COM | © 2020 Bentley Systems, Incorporated
Plates / shells
• Plates have:
– Axial forces
– Shear forces
– Bending moments
– Hoop forces (axisymmetry)
• Elastic or elastoplastic behaviour
h h
b
b = 1 m in plane strain
b = 1 meter in axisymmetry
b
Np
M
Mp
M-Kappa diagram
3
2
1
1
3 2
M- : loading/unloading
M-Kappa diagram
3
2
1
1
3 2
M- : loading/unloading
• Prevent punching
Creates small elastic zone around the
end of the plate
(do NOT use to model bearing capacity)
• Rayleigh and
Numerical damping parameters
• Thermal parameters
Heat storage and conductivity
parameters for thermal analysis
Elastic zone
d
9 | WWW.BENTLEY.COM | © 2020 Bentley Systems, Incorporated
• Notes:
– If structural forces are important and self-weight is a significant part of the total load of the plate using
= ∗ may be the better choice to obtain correct structural forces.
– The soil weight can be or depending on whether the plate is below of above the phreatic
level. It may even change during the calculation, but often that influence is quite small.
10
• Additional Notes:
– If during a calculation the soil is being excavated or filled, generally the plate weight is determined
based on the final situation rather than changing it according to the actual situation during the
calculation
11
Connection
Define how the end of plate A (the custom part)
is connected to plate B (the reference plate)
• Fixed
• Free
Fixed rotation • Elastic spring (requires rotation stiffness)
• Elasto-plastic spring
(requires rotation stiffness and plastic moment)
reference custom
custom
ref 1
custom 2
12
Anchors
13
Material type
• Elastic
• Elastoplastic
• Elastoplastic with residual strength
Ls
14
Residual strength
15
Anchors - pre-stressing
16
Geogrids
N N ε
Np ε
ε
ε ε t t
Creep Relaxation
Elastic-perfectly N-
plastic diagram Visco-elastic
17
18
Material data
Pile shape
19
Output:
• Normal stresses
• Shear stresses
• Displacements
20
– Individual material set for interface possible for more control over interface parameters
21
22
Interfaces
Inflexible
corner points,
may cause bad
stress results
Flexible corner
points with
improved stress
results
23
Questions?
24
WAREHOUSE FOUNDATION
Computational Geotechnics 1
Warehouse foundation
INTRODUCTION
This exercise is based on a practical situation, the excavation and loading of a real foundation.
In addition to soil, structural elements are included in the model. The possibility of staged
excavation and construction is shown by switching elements on and off. Attention is focused
on output options for structural elements.
Project
The geometry given in figure 1 allows for some schematisation:
• As the problem is fully symmetric, it will be sufficient to model only one symmetric half of
the entire geometry. In this example we choose to model the right hand side. This right
hand boundary is allowed to displace only in vertical direction.
• At a depth of 7.5 meter a stiff gravel layer is present. It can be assumed that no significant
deformations occur in this material. To this end the gravel is excluded from the FE model.
Hence we choose the bottom of the geometry at the level of -7.5 m. As no deformations
are assumed to occur, the displacements along this boundary are fully fixed (default
option Standard fixities).
• The line loads, indicated as P2 are transferred to the basement bottom by a rigid wall.
Hence the point loads can also be positioned directly on the basement bottom.
2 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
Aims
• Using structural (plate) elements.
Scheme of operations
• Start a new project
• Input
* Excavate basement
• Output
Computational Geotechnics 3
Warehouse foundation
INPUT
Project properties
• Start a new project by re-starting PLAXIS, or when PLAXIS Input is already active, select
New from the File menu.
• In Project properties window on the Model tab sheet, enter the geometry dimensions as
presented in figure 2.
• Click OK to continue. This will present an empty drawing area in Soil mode.
• For easy drawing of the geometry, the Number of snap intervals should be set to 2. Click
on the Snapping options button ( ) located below the drawing area and change the
Number of snap intervals to 2.
Soil mode
• Select the Create borehole button ( ) and then click on the coordinates (x y) = (0 0) in
the drawing area in order to insert a borehole at the origin.
• In the Modify soil layers window that opens, add 1 layer to the borehole with Top = 0m
and Bottom = -7.5m
4 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
• In this exercise the whole project is located above the phreatic level. Therefore, set the
Head of the borehole at -7.5m. This means the phreatic level is a the bottom of the
borehole.
• Assign the material set to the soil layer by dragging it with the mouse from the Material
sets onto the soil layer in the drawing area.
Computational Geotechnics 5
Warehouse foundation
This finalizes the definition of the subsoil. From the mode buttons above the drawing area
select Structures to move to Structures mode.
Structures mode
In Structures mode the wall and floors that are part of the final construction will be defined.
Additionally, lines must be drawn to be able to model the inclined excavation during construction
stage.
Basement
The basement floor has a thickness of 0.40 m, the ‘bottom’ of the floor lies at 2.70 m below the
surface and the ‘top’ of the floor lies 2.30 m below the surface. Plate elements do not occupy
any volume, hence, the plate representing the basement floor is drawn at 2.50 m below the
surface at the ‘centre line’ of the basement floor.
• From the Create line button menu ( ) select the Create plate button .
• Draw a Plate line from coordinate (x y) = (0, -2.5) to (4.0, -2.5) and (4.0 0). Then end the
plate line by clicking the right mouse button.
• Select the Show materials button ( ) to open the Materials sets window.
• In the Material sets window changet the Set type to Plates in order to enter the plate
material sets for the floor and the wall.
• Assign the material sets to the wall and the floor. This can be done in 2 different ways:
1. By drag-and-drop: drag the material sets from the Material sets window onto the
wall and the floor respectively, similar to assigning soil
6 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
Excavation slope
• From the Create line button menu (that is still set to drawing plates) select the Create
line button ( ).
• Draw a line from coordinate (x y) = (4.0 -2.5) to (9.0, 0.0). This is the slope that is used
for the excavation.
Soil-structure interaction
In order to model the interaction between structural elements like the floor and the wall and the
surrounding soil a special element is need: the interface element. Interface elements allow for
differential displacements and friction between structural elements and soil whereas without
interface elements the structural element would be tightly connected to the soil.
• From the Create line button menu select the Create interface option .
• Draw an interface line from coordinate (x y) = (0, -2.5) to (4.0, -2.5) to (4.0, 0.0) and end
the interface line by clicking the right mouse button. The interface appears as a green
solid line below the basement floor and right from the wall.
Point forces
• Select the Create point button ( ) and then the Create point load option ( ). Click on
coordinates (1.0, -2.5) and (4.0, 0.0) to add the two point forces.
• In the model explorer the input values can be defined by expanding the Point loads
submenu, or in the selection explorer by multiple clicking on the different point loads in
the drawing area.
• For the point force located on the bottom of the basement, enter a value for the vertical
component Fy = −300 kN/m.
Computational Geotechnics 7
Warehouse foundation
• For the point force located on the top of the wall, enter a value for the vertical component
Fy = −200 kN/m, see figure 5.
Mesh mode
PLAXIS automatically refines the mesh around structural elements. As can be seen in figure
the structural elements and the points with point loads acting are coloured green in Mesh
mode whereas the rest of the project is dark grey. PLAXIS uses a colour coding to indicate
mesh refinement relative to the default element distribution. Elements with a mesh refinement
are green, where lighter green means a more refined mesh. On the other hand a more yellow
colour indicates a coarser mesh than the default element distribution. The factor with which
the mesh is refined can be seen in the Selection explorer when selecting for instance the floor:
the coarseness factor is 0.25, indicating that elements generated on the floor will be 25% of
the size determined by the default element distribution. See also figure 6.
• Click on the Generate mesh button ( ) in the toolbar or select the Generate option from
the Mesh menu. The Mesh options window pops up. In this exercise the default settings,
which is a Medium element distribution, will do. So click <OK> to generate the mesh.
• After generating the mesh, press the view mesh button ( ) . A new window is opened
(Output window) in which the generated mesh is presented, see figure 7
8 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
Initial phase
In the intial phase no changes have to be made. The default settings (all soil activated and all
plates and forces deactivated) gives the proper initial situation.
Phase 1: Excavation
• In the Phases explorer press on the Add phase button ( ) to create the first calculation
phase.
• In the drawing area, right-click on both material clusters of the excavation and select
Deactivate from the popup menu to deactivate the soil. Note that active clusters have
the colour of the material data set, while non-active clusters are blank. See figure 8.
Phase 2: Construction
In the second phase the wall and floor of the basement are constructed
Computational Geotechnics 9
Warehouse foundation
• In the Phases explorer press on the Add phase button ( ) to create the second
calculation phase.
• In the drawing area, click on the wall in order to select it (it will become red) and
then right-click. Select the option Activate in order to activate te wall and the interface
together. Do the same for the floor, note that the floor exists of two parts on either side
of the point force.
Active plates are indicated in blue whereas inactive plates are indicated in grey. When activating
the plates, the adjacent interfaces are also automatically activated.
Phase 3: Backfill
In the third phase the excavated slope is filled up to the wall.
10 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
• Click on the point force located on the top of the wall in order to select it. Now right-click
on the point force and select Activate from the popup menu.
• Click on the point force located on the basement floor to select it. Now right-click on the
point force and select Activate from the popup menu.
Both point forces should now be active. Active point forces are indicated in blue.
Load-displacement curves
One of the results we would like to investigate is the vertical movement of the floor during the
excavation and backfill process.
• Select the Select point for curves button ( ) and select a point on the floor in the
centre. Note that the centre of the model is the far left boundary, as our model only
calculates half of the actual problem.
In order to make a graph of the vertical movement of the floor during the calculation we need
some method to measure the calculation process. This is done by giving all calculation phases
a construction time of 1 day, so that we can after the calculation plot the vertical movement in
time:
• Select the Edit phase button ( ) to open the Phases window. In this window addtional
calculation parameters can be set, including contruction time. See figure 9.
• Select in the phases list on the left side Phase 1 and then in the box in the middle under
the option General the input field for Time interval.
• Now select the second phase from the phase list and set the time interval for the second
phase to 1 day as well
Computational Geotechnics 11
Warehouse foundation
12 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
OUTPUT
• Make sure in the Phases explorer the last calculation phase is selected and press on
the View results button ( ).
• Double click on the basement floor (plate element). This will open a new window,
showing displacements of the plate.
• Select Axial forces N from the Forces menu. This will result in a plot of the axial forces
in the basement floor.
It is possible to see the results of both the floor and the wall in the same structural element
plot:
• Now close the structural element plot by clicking on the lower of the the two crosses in
the top right corner of the window.
• While keeping the Shift key pressed on the keyboard, click on the wall and then click
on the floor (they are both red now) and then double-click on either wall or floor to open
both in a new structural element window.
• With the buttons Distribution ( ) and Wireframe distribution ( ) the look of the plot
can be changed.
Computational Geotechnics 13
Warehouse foundation
Figure 11: Axial forces in floor and wall at the end of phase 4(Nmax u200 kN/m)
Figure 12: Shear forces in floor and wall at the end of phase 4(Qmax u190 kN/m)
Curves
Finally, create a curve to see the change of vertical displacement of the basement floor during
the calculation:
14 Computational Geotechnics
Warehouse foundation
• From the Tools menu open the Curves manager or select the Curves manager button
( ) from the button bar.
• In the Curves manager press the <New> button to start a new chart. The Curve
generation window will open.
• On the x-axis we would like to plot the global variable "time", hence choose for the x-axis
Project and then Time.
• Choose for the y-axis point A and Deformations -> Total displacements -> u y .
It can be seen from figure 13 that the basement first heaves when the soil is excavated. During
construction of the floor and wall and backfill the settlements of the floor hardly changes until
the load is applied.
Computational Geotechnics 15
Warehouse foundation
16 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
TIED-BACK EXCAVATION
Computational Geotechnics 1
Tied-back excavation
2 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
INTRODUCTION
A building pit was constructed in the south of the Netherlands. The pit is 15 m deep and 30 m
wide. A diaphragm wall is constructed using 100 cm diameter bored piles; the wall is anchored
by two rows of pre-stressed ground anchors. In this exercise the construction of this building
pit is simulated and the deformation and bending moments of the wall are evaluated.
The upper 40 m of the subsoil consists of a more or less homogeneous layer of medium dense
fine sand with a unit weight of 18 kN/m3 . Triaxial test data of a representative soil sample is
given in figure 2. Underneath this layer there is very stiff layer of gravel, which is not to be
included in the model. The groundwater table is very deep and does not play a role in this
analysis.
Aims
• Pre-stressing of anchors
Computational Geotechnics 3
Tied-back excavation
Material parameters
Secant wall
The secant wall consists of 100cm diameter bored piles with an intermediate distance of 80cm,
hence there is a 20cm overlap of the piles. This configuration is taken this into account for
the determination of the cross sectional area (A) and moment of inertia (I) per meter out-of-
plane (see Appendix B). The concrete stiffness is Ec = 2.7 · 107 kN/m2 with a specific weight
4 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
γ = 16 kN/m3 , which leads to the material parameters as given in table 2. The determination
of the stiffness parameters can be found in Appendix A.
Ground anchors
The anchors are made of 32mm diameter steel bars at an intermediate distance of 1m. The
steel bars have a stiffness of Es = 2.1 · 108 kN/m2 . The anchors have an representative
capacity of 605 kN per anchor. In combination with a secant wall the anchors may be prestressed
to a maximum level of 80% of the design capacity, which is the representative capacity divided
by a partial safety factor that has been determined at 1.5 This leads to a maximum prestress
force of 322 kN per anchor. The maximum compression force of the anchor is not important
as the anchors will not be loaded under compression. The grout body that forms the bonded
length of the anchor behaves relatively weak under tension compared to the steel bar inside.
Therefore it is assumed that both stiffness and strength of the bonded part of the anchor are
Computational Geotechnics 5
Tied-back excavation
fully determined by the steel bar. This leads to the material properties for both the anchor rod
(free length) and grout body (bonded length) as given in tables 3 and 4. Note that it is chosen
to use the representative capacity of the anchors as maximum anchor force.
It is assumed that the anchor rod is present inside the full length of the grout body, hence the
properties of the embedded beam row are based on the composite properties of anchor rod
and grout, which are considered to be mainly determine the stiffness and strength properties
of the anchor rod.
Furthermore, it is assumed that the shear resistance between grout body and soil is sufficient
and so the skin resistance of the grout body is set to a very high value.
6 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
INPUT
Introduction
Start PLAXIS Input and start a new project.
Project properties
• For the dimensions of the project, enter xmin = 0, xmax = 100, ymin = −60 and ymax = 0
in the Model tabsheet of the Project properties window, see figure 3.
• Accept all other settings as their defaults and press the <OK> button.
Soil mode
• Select the Create borehole button ( ) and insert a borehole at (x y) = (0 0)
• In the Modifiy soil layers window define a first layer in the borehole with Top = 0m and
Bottom = -15m.
• Additionally, define 3 more layers with Bottom = -25m, -45m and -60m
• The phreatic level in the project area is very deep and so the excavation is done completely
above the phreatic line. Set the Head of the borehole to -60m to indicate that the phreatic
levels is at the far bottom of the borehole.
Computational Geotechnics 7
Tied-back excavation
The drawing area now shows the subsoil of 100m wide and 60m deep in grey colour.
• Select the Show materials button ( ) so that the Materials window opens.
• Create 4 soil material sets according to the parameters given in table 1. Any parameter
not specified in this table should be left at its default value.
• Assign the material sets to the soil layer where Top Sand is the topmost layer, followed
by Middle Sand, Lower Sand and finally Deep Sand is the deepest layer.
Structures mode
In Structures mode we will now define the structural elements such as the wall and the anchors
as well as the levels of excavation.
First we will draw the wall:
• Select the Create line button ( ) and from the menu that opens select the Create plate
button
Soil-structure interaction is modelled with an interface element. Since there will be interaction
between soil and wall on both sides of the wall, an interface is required on both sides of the
wall:
8 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
• From the Create line button menu now select the Create interface button ( ).
• Draw the interface for soil-structure interaction from (x y) = (15 0) to (15 -25) and back to
(15 0) in order to get soil-structure interaction on both sides of the wall.
Now the anchors are added. The anchors are made out of two parts: a free length formed by
just the anchor rod and modelled with a node-to-node anchor, and a bonded length which is
the grout body with the anchor rod inside, modelled by an embedded beam row element:
• To draw the anchor rods of the grout anchors (hence, the free length sections) select
again the Create line button, now followed by the Create node-to-node anchor button
( ).
• Draw the upper anchor from (x y) = (15 -5) to (30 - 15) and right-click to end the drawing.
• Now draw the lower anchors from (x y) = (15 -10) to (30 -20) and again right-click to end
the drawing.
• Finally, insert the grout bodies (hence, the bonded length sections) using embedded
beam rows. To do so, select the Create embedded beam row button from the Create
line button menu.
• Draw the upper grout body from (x y) = (30 -15) to (37.5 -20) and right-click to end
drawing.
• Draw the lower grout body from (x y) = (30 -20) to (37.5 -25) and again right-click to end
drawing.
Now we have to specifiy that the embedded beam rows are used as grout bodies. By defining
them as grout bodies, they will be connected to the anchors and only to the anchors.
• With the <Ctrl> key pressed on the keyboard, select both embedded beam rows in the
drawing area.
• In the Selection explorer change the Behaviour for both embedded beam rows from Pile
to Grout body, see figure 5.
Computational Geotechnics 9
Tied-back excavation
Material sets
• Open the Material sets window by selecting the Show materials button ( ).
• In the Material sets window change the Set type to Plates and create a new plate
material set according to the parameters given in table 2.
• Assign the material set to the wall.
• In a similar way, create material sets for the anchors and embedded beam rows according
to the parameters given in tables 3 and 4 and assign them.
Mesh mode
• Press the Generate Mesh button. In the appearing window Mesh options set the Element
distribution to Medium and press the OK button.
• Press View mesh to inspect the resulting mesh as shown in figure 6.
The mesh is automatically refined around the wall and anchors and needs no further refinement.
10 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
Initial phase
In the first calculation phase, the diaphragm wall is activated and the first excavation takes
place. See figure7.
• Click on the Add phase button ( ) in the Phases explorer to add the first calculation
phase.
• Select the Activate button ( ) and click on the 4 parts of the wall to activate the complete
wall. Note that this will automatically also activate the interfaces on both sides of the wall.
• Also click on the soil representing the first excavation to deactivate the soil.
Computational Geotechnics 11
Tied-back excavation
• Select the Activate button ( ) and click on the grout body (the embedded beam row) of
the upper anchor to activate it.
• Then click on the anchor rod (node-to-node anchor) to also activate the anchor rod.
• Select the Select button ( ) and select the anchor rod of the upper anchor, hence the
node-to-node anchor.
• In the Selection explorer click on the option Adjust prestress that can be found as part
of the node-to-node anchor. A checkbox now appears.
• Select the checkbox (so that it’s checked). An extra input field Fprestress now appears. Fill
in a presstress of 300 kN, see figure9.
In the geometry a black node-to-node anchor indicates that the anchor is activated. The letter
"p" indicates that a prestress force will be active in the anchor.
Phase 3, 4 and 5
Now define the remaining phases according to figures 10, 11 and 12.
12 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
Figure 10: Phase 3: Second excavation Figure 11: Phase 4: Activation and
prestressing of 2nd anchor
Calculate
When all phases are defined, press the Calculate ( ) button. Ignore the warning to select
nodes for curves.
Computational Geotechnics 13
Tied-back excavation
14 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
OUTPUT
After calculation, press the View calculation results button ( ) to inspect the results.
The results of phase 5 are presented in figure 13. After this final stage the calculated excavation
bottom heave is 5-6 cm.
• Select the button Select structures ( ) and double click on a node-to-node anchor.
Plaxis will present a table in which the stress of the anchor can be inspected. Anchor
forces are approximately 330 kN where the lower anchor has a slightly higher anchor
force than the upper anchor.
• When double-clicking on one of the embedded beam rows the change of axial forces
within the grout body can be investigated. For both grout bodies the axial forces equals
the anchor force where it’s connected to the node-to-node anchors. The axial decreases
almost linearly over the length of the grout body.
• By double-clicking on the wall the structural forces in the wall can be inspected. The
maximum bending moment should be in the order of 350 kNm/m (figure 14)
• When double-clicking on an interface only the results of part of the interface can be seen.
In order to see the results for the whole interface chain without the extension below the
wall, keep <Shift> pressed on the keyboard while selecting the parts of the interface that
are next to the wall on both sides. After selecting all parts, double-click on the interface
while keeping the <Shift> key pressed. In figure 15the left side are the passive earth
pressures and the right side are the active earth pressures. It can be seen that only a
small part of the maximum passive earth pressures has been mobilized at this stage.
Computational Geotechnics 15
Tied-back excavation
Figure 14: Bending moments in the Figure 15: Effective normal stresses in the
secant wall interface
16 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
Strength parameters
Fill in σ1 and σ3 in the Mohr-Coulomb criteria:
σ1 −σ3
σ1 +σ3
= sin ϕ
370−100
370+100
= sin ϕ
ϕ = 35o
ψ =ϕ − 30 = 5o
Stiffness parameters
Since excavation is considered in this exercise, the input of Young’s modulus E should be
based on unloading, rather than on primary loading. For the same reason, Poisson’s ratio
Computational Geotechnics 17
Tied-back excavation
∆σv 135
E50 = ∆v = 0.675% = 2.0 ∗ 104
ref q σ
E50 = E50 3
pref
We distinguish:
Top layer
• σ3 = depth · γsoil · K0
σ3 =average horizontal stress (reference point at -7.5 m)
σ3 = 7.5 · 18 · (1 − sin ϕ) = 58 kPa
top
q
4 58
E50 = 2.0 · 10 100 ≈ 1.5 · 104 kP a
top
E 0 = Eur
top
≈ 4 · E50 = 6.0 · 104 kPa
Middle layer
18 Computational Geotechnics
Tied-back excavation
Lower layer
Deep layer
Computational Geotechnics 19
Tied-back excavation
Compared to the original bored piles the repetitive sections have a reduced cross sectional
area. Though it can be analytically derived how much the reduction is, the fastest way to
determine this is to draw the repetitive section on paper with a fine grid based on the original
bored piles with a diameter of 1000mm and an overlap of 200mm and count squares. Using
this method the cross sectional area of the repetitive section is determined as As = 0.74 m2 .
Since the sections are at a distance D apart where D is given as 800mm, the cross sectional
area of the wall per meter is given as:Awall = ADs = 0.74
0.8 = 0.93 m /m
2
For the moment of inertia is assumed that the influence of the reduced cross sectional area
is negligble as the reduction is close to the axis of bending and symmetric. Therefore the
moment of inertia per meter wall is determined as:
Ipile 4 π·(0.5)4
Iwall = D = πr
4D = 4·0.8 = 61.3 · 10−3 m4 /m