Meshfree SPH modelling of shrinkage induced cracking in clayey soils

Abstract

In this study, a computational approach that combines the mesh-free Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and a simple anisotropic damage constitutive model is proposed to model shrinkage induced cracking in clayey soils. To assess its performance, a numerical soil shrinkage test is conducted and simulation results are compared with experimental data. Numerical results show that the proposed approach can capture complicated cracking patterns with multiple fracture networks in clayey soils, which demonstrates the potential of SPH for simulating desiccation cracking in these materials.