Johan Clausen

The Bearing Capacity of Circular Footings in Sand: Comparison between Model Tests and Numerical Simulations Based on a Nonlinear Mohr Failure Envelope

This paper presents the results of a series of triaxial tests with dry sand at confining pressures varying from 1.5 kPa to 100 kPa at relative densities of 0.20, 0.59, and 0.84. The results, which are in reasonable accordance with an equation given by Bolton, show that the friction angle is strongly dependent on the stress level and on the basis of the test results, a nonlinear Mohr failure criterion has been proposed. This yield criterion has been implemented in a finite element program and an analysis of the bearing capacity of a circular shaped model foundation, diameter 100 mm, has been conducted. Comparisons have been made with results from 1g model scale tests with a foundation of similar size and a good agreement between numerical results and test results has been found.

Robust and efficient handling of yield surface discontinuities in elasto-plastic finite element calculations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present several methods on how to deal with yield surface discontinuities. The explicit formulations, first presented by Koiter (1953), result in multisingular constitutive matrices which can cause numerical problems in elasto-plastic finite element calculations. These problems, however, are not documented in previous literature. In this paper an amendment to the Koiter formulation of the constitutive matrices for stress points located on discontinuities is proposed. Design/methodology/approach – First, a review of existing methods of handling yield surface discontinuities is given. Examples of the numerical problems of the methods are presented. Next, an augmentation of the existing methods is proposed and its robustness is demonstrated through footing bearing capacity calculations that are usually considered “hard”. Findings – Previous studies documented in the literature all present “easy” calculation examples, e.g. low friction angles and few elements. The ame...