Meshfree methods applied to consolidation problems in saturated soils

Abstract

A meshfree numerical model, based on the principle of Local Maximum Entropy, with a B-Bar based algorithm to avoid instabilities, is applied to solve consolidation problems in saturated soils. This numerical scheme has been previously validated for purely elasticity problems without water (mono phase), as well as for steady seepage in elastic porous media. Hereinafter, the model is validated for well known consolidation theoretical problems, both static and dynamic, with known analytical solutions. For several examples, the solutions obtained with the new code are compared to PLAXIS (commercial software). Finally, after validated, solutions for dynamic radial consolidation and sinks, which have not been found in the literature, are presented as a novelty. This new numerical approach is demonstrated to be feasible for this kind of problems in porous media.