Stability and efficiency considerations in the numerical simulation of cone penetration testing in sand. Issue 1 (15th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fan, S.; Bienen, B.; Randolph, M. F.
• Is Part Of: Géotechnique letters. Volume 8:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 25
• Publication Date: 2018-01-15
• Subjects: Cone penetration test -- sand -- hypoplasticity -- large deformation -- numerical modelling -- numerical stability.; Geotechnical engineering -- Periodicals; Engineering geology -- Periodicals; 624.151
• DOI: 10.1680/jgele.17.00105
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-2543

Abstract

Abstract : This paper evaluates the effect of analysis parameter choices on the stability and efficiency of modelling cone penetration into sand. This very large deformation quasi-static boundary value problem is modelled here using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh technique available within Abaqus/Explicit. The sand response is captured using a hypoplastic constitutive model. It is demonstrated that many choices of analysis parameters lead to spurious results, some of which show clear instability, while other combinations show reasonable stability but over-estimation of the cone resistance. Accuracy of the numerical solution is shown through comparison against centrifuge experimental data for two different relative densities of the sand.