Axisymmetric particle-element coupled method for deformation problems of geomaterial

Abstract

Although grid-based particle methods are widely used for engineering deformation problems, due to their robustness in large deformation analyses, the computational cost of these methods is quite high compared with mesh-based methods. In 3D problems, the computational cost becomes even higher, whereas some mechanical systems can be regarded as axisymmetric, allowing them to be modeled as two-dimensional axisymmetric entities, resulting in a reduced computation cost. In order to decrease the computational cost further, arbitrary spatial discretization has been introduced to reduce the degrees of freedom in the system. The Particle-Element Coupled Method (PEM), the coupled method of the Material Point Method (MPM) and the Arbitrary Particle Domain Interpolation (APDI) method, enables a system to be discretized in arbitrary spatial resolutions. In this paper, PEM is extended to axisymmetric problems, whose formulation and applicability to geomaterial deformation are presented. Firstly, the axisymmetric MPM simulation of a granular column collapse experiment and its efficiency in computation are reported. Secondly, in the simulation of footing penetration, it is shown that the axisymmetric MPM and the axisymmetric PEM can be used to analyze large deformations that cannot be analyzed by mesh-based methods, such as the Finite Difference Method (FDM). The axisymmetric PEM yields equivalent average pressure–displacement relationships and shear strain distributions, realizing a reduction in the computation cost by half as much.