A coupled three-phase FE-model for dewatering of soils by means of compressed air

Authors

  • Gerhard Oettl University of Innsbruck
    Austria
  • Rudolf F. Stark University of Innsbruck
    Austria
  • Guenter Hofstetter University of Innsbruck
    Austria

Abstract

A coupled three-phase soil model, consisting of a deformable soil skeleton and the fluid phases water and compressed air, applicable for tunnelling below the ground-water table by means of compressed air, is presented. In this model interactions of the flow of the fluids in the soil with the deformations of the soil skeleton are taken into account in a physically consistent manner. The theoretical background and the implementation of the model into a finite element code are briefly addressed. Several applications dealing with the numerical simulation of laboratory tests and a full-scale in-situ experiment are discussed. These experiments focus on the flow of (compressed) air in dry as well as semi-saturated soil.

References

[1] G. Beer, J . Plank. Joint research initiative on numerical simulation in tunnelling. Felsbau, 17(1): 7-9, 1999.
[2] M.A. Biot. General theory of three-dimensional consolidation. Journal of Applied Physics, 12(2): 155- 164, 1941.
[3] R. de Boer, W. Ehlers, S. Kowalski, J . Plischka. Porous Media, a Survey of Different Approaches, Vol. 54 of Forschungsberichte aus dem Fachbereich Bauwesen. Universitat-Gesamthochschule Essen, Essen, 1991.
[4] J .P. Carter, N.P. Balaam. AFENA User's Manual, Version 5.0. Centre for Geotechnical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, 1995.
[5] D.G. Fredlund, H. Rahardjo. Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1993.

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Published

2023-02-02

Issue

pp. 1-22

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Oettl, G., Stark, R. F., & Hofstetter, G. (2023). A coupled three-phase FE-model for dewatering of soils by means of compressed air. Computer Assisted Methods in Engineering and Science, 10(1), 1-22. https://cames3.ippt.pan.pl/index.php/cames/article/view/1099