Introductory2014 Lesson1 2D
Introductory2014 Lesson1 2D
Introductory2014 Lesson1 2D
2.1 GEOMETRY
2.0 m
load
footing
y
sand 4.0 m
a
Figure 2.1 Geometry of a circular footing on a sand layer
In the first calculation, the footing is considered to be very stiff and rough. In
this calculation the settlement of the footing is simulated by means of a
uniform indentation at the top of the sand layer instead of modelling the
footing itself. This approach leads to a very simple model and is therefore
used as a first exercise, but it also has some disadvantages. For example, it
does not give any information about the structural forces in the footing. The
second part of this tutorial deals with an external load on a flexible footing,
which is a more advanced modelling approach.
Project properties
The first step in every analysis is to set the basic parameters of the finite
element model. This is done in the Project properties window. These settings
include the description of the problem, the type of model, the basic type of
elements, the basic units and the size of the draw area.
To enter the appropriate settings for the footing calculation follow these steps:
In the Project tabsheet, enter "Lesson 1" in the Title box and type
"Settlements of a circular footing" in the Comments box.
Click the Next button below the tabsheets or click the Model tab.
In the Type group the type of the model (Model) and the basic element
type (Elements) are specified. Since this tutorial concerns a circular
footing, select the Axisymmetry and the 15-Noded options from the
Model and the Elements drop-down menus respectively.
Keep the default units in the Units group (Unit of Length = m; Unit of
Force = kN; Unit of Time = day).
In the General group the unit weight of water (water ) is set to 10 kN/m3 .
In the Contour group set the model dimensions to xmin = 0.0, xmax = 5.0,
ymin = 0.0 and ymax = 4.0.
Click OK button to confirm the settings.
Hint: In the case of a mistake or for any other reason that the project
properties need to be changed, you can access the Project
properties window by selecting the corresponding option from
the File menu.
Set the top boundary of the soil layer at y = 4 and keep the bottom
boundary at y = 0 m.
By default the Head value (groundwater head) in the borehole column is
set to 0 m. Set the Head to 2.0 m (Figure 2.5).
The creation of material data sets and their assignment to soil layers is
described in the following section.
anchors, geogrids, etc.) the system is similar, but different types of structures
have different parameters and therefore different types of material data sets.
PLAXIS 2D distinguishes between material data sets for Soil and interfaces,
Plates, Geogrids, Embedded pile row and Anchors.
To create a material set for the sand layer, follow these steps:
Open the Material sets window by clicking the Materials button in the
Modify soil layers window. The Material sets window pops up (Figure
2.6).
Click the New button at the lower side of the Material sets window. A
new window will appear with five tabsheets: General, Parameters, Flow
parameters, Interfaces and Initial.
In the Material set box of the General tabsheet, write "Sand" in the
Identification box.
The default material model (Mohr-Coulomb) and drainage type
(Drained) are valid for this example.
Enter the proper values in the General properties box (Figure 2.7)
according to the material properties listed in Table 2.1. Keep parameters
that are not mentioned in the table at their default values.
Figure 2.7 The General tabsheet of the Soil window of the Soil and interfaces
set type
Click the Next button or click the Parameters tab to proceed with the
input of model parameters. The parameters appearing on the
Parameters tabsheet depend on the selected material model (in this
case the Mohr-Coulomb model).
Enter the model parameters of Table 2.1 in the corresponding edit boxes
of the Parameters tabsheet (Figure 2.8). A detailed description of
different soil models and their corresponding parameters can be found in
the Material Models Manual.
Figure 2.8 The Parameters tabsheet of the Soil window of the Soil and
interfaces set type
The soil material is drained, the geometry model does not include
interfaces and the default initial conditions are valid for this case,
therefore the remaining tabsheets can be skipped. Click OK to confirm
the input of the current material data set. Now the created data set will
appear in the tree view of the Material sets window.
Drag the set Sand from the Material sets window (select it and hold
down the left mouse button while moving) to the graph of the soil column
on the left hand side of the Modify soil layers window and drop it there
(release the left mouse button).
Click OK in the Material sets window to close the database.
Click OK to close the Modify soil layers window.
Hint: Existing data sets may be changed by opening the Material sets
window, selecting the data set to be changed from the tree view
and clicking the Edit button. As an alternative, the Material sets
window can be opened by clicking the corresponding button in
the side toolbar.
PLAXIS 2D distinguishes between a project database and a
global database of material sets. Data sets may be exchanged
from one project to another using the global database. The
global database can be shown in the Material sets window by
clicking the Show global button. The data sets of all tutorials in
the Tutorial Manual are stored in the global database during the
installation of the program.
The material assigned to a selected entity in the model can be
changed in the Material drop-down menu in the Selection
explorer. Note that all the material datasets assignable to the
entity are listed in the drop-down menu. However, only the
materials listed under Project materials are listed, and not the
ones listed under Global materials.
The program performs a consistency check on the material
parameters and will give a warning message in the case of a
detected inconsistency in the data.
Visibility of a grid in the draw area can simplify the definition of geometry. The
grid provides a matrix on the screen that can be used as reference. It may
also be used for snapping to regular points during the creation of the
geometry. The grid can be activated by clicking the corresponding button
under the draw area. To define the size of the grid cell and the snapping
options:
Click the Snapping options button in the side toolbar. The Snapping
window pops up where the size of the grid cells and the snapping
interval can be specified. The spacing of snapping points can be further
divided into smaller intervals by the Number of snap intervals value. Use
the default values in this example.
In the draw area move the cursor to point (0 4) and click the left mouse
button
Move along the upper boundary of the soil to point (1 4) and click the left
mouse button again.
Click the right mouse button to stop drawing.
In the Selection explorer set the x-component of the prescribed
displacement (Displacementx ) to Fixed.
Mesh generation
When the geometry model is complete, the finite element mesh can be
generated. PLAXIS 2D allows for a fully automatic mesh generation
procedure, in which the geometry is divided into elements of the basic
element type and compatible structural elements, if applicable.
The mesh generation takes full account of the position of points and lines in
the model, so that the exact position of layers, loads and structures is
accounted for in the finite element mesh. The generation process is based on
a robust triangulation principle that searches for optimised triangles. In
addition to the mesh generation itself, a transformation of input data
(properties, boundary conditions, material sets, etc.) from the geometry
model (points, lines and clusters) to the finite element mesh (elements, nodes
and stress points) is made.
In order to generate the mesh, follow these steps:
Proceed to the Mesh mode by clicking the corresponding tab.
Click the Generate mesh button in the side toolbar. The Mesh options
window pops up.
The Medium option is by default selected as element distribution.
Click OK to start the mesh generation.
As the mesh is generated, click the View mesh button. A new window is
opened displaying the generated mesh (Figure 4.9). Note that the mesh
is automatically refined under the footing.
Click on the Close tab to close the Output program and go back to the
Mesh mode of the Input program.
Initial conditions
The 'Initial phase' always involves the generation of initial conditions. In
general, the initial conditions comprise the initial geometry configuration and
the initial stress state, i.e. effective stresses, pore pressures and state
parameters, if applicable.
Click the Staged construction tab to proceed with the definition of calculation
phases. The Water conditions mode may be skipped. When a new project
has been defined, a first calculation phase named "Initial phase", is
automatically created and selected in the Phases explorer (Figure 4.10). All
structural elements and loads that are present in the geometry are initially
automatically switched off; only the soil volumes are initially active.
In this tutorial lesson the properties of the Initial phase will be described.
Below an overview is given of the options to be defined even though the
default values of the parameters are used.
The Phases window (Figure 4.11) is displayed by clicking the Edit phase
button or by double clicking on the phase in the Phases explorer.
By default the K0 procedure is selected as Calculation type in the
General subtree of the Phases window. This option will be used in this
project to generate the initial stresses.
The Staged construction option is available as Loading type.
The Phreatic option is selected by default as the Pore pressure
calculation type.
The other default options in the Phases window will be used as well in
this tutorial. Click OK to close the Phases window.
For deformation problems two types of boundary conditions exist: Prescribed
displacement and prescribed forces (loads). In principle, all boundaries must
have one boundary condition in each direction. That is to say, when no
Figure 2.15 The Deformations and Water subtrees in the Model explorer
The initial water level has been entered already in the Modify soil layers
window.
The water level defined according to the Head specified for boreholes is
displayed (Figure 2.16). Note that only the global water level is displayed
in both Phase definition modes. All the water levels are displayed in the
model only in the Water conditions mode.
Phase 1: Footing
In order to simulate the settlement of the footing in this analysis, a plastic
calculation is required. PLAXIS 2D has a convenient procedure for automatic
load stepping, which is called 'Load advancement'. This procedure can be
used for most practical applications. Within the plastic calculation, the
prescribed displacements are activated to simulate the indentation of the
footing. In order to define the calculation phase follow these steps:
Click the Add phase button in the Phases explorer. A new phase,
named Phase_1 will be added in the Phases explorer.
Execution of calculation
All calculation phases (two phases in this case) are marked for calculation
(indicated by a blue arrow). The execution order is controlled by the Start
the number of plastic points in the current calculation step. It will take a few
seconds to perform the calculation. When a calculation ends, the window is
closed and focus is returned to the main window.
The phase list in the Phases explorer is updated. A successfully
calculated phase is indicated by a check mark inside a green circle.
Save the project before viewing results.
the Effective principal stresses option from the appearing menu. The
plot shows the effective principal stresses at the stress points of each
soil element with an indication of their direction and their relative
magnitude (Figure 2.21).
Click the Table button on the toolbar. A new window is opened in which
a table is presented, showing the values of the principal stresses and
other stress measures in each stress point of all elements.
The project is now modified so that the footing is modelled as a flexible plate.
This enables the calculation of structural forces in the footing. The geometry
used in this exercise is the same as the previous one, except that additional
elements are used to model the footing. The calculation itself is based on the
application of load rather than prescribed displacement. It is not necessary to
create a new model; you can start from the previous model, modify it and
store it under a different name. To perform this, follow these steps:
In the model right-click the line at the location of the footing. Point on
Create and select the Plate option in the appearing menu (Figure 2.23).
A plate is created which simulates the flexible footing.
In the model right-click again the line at the location of the footing. Point
on Create and select the Line load option in the appearing menu (Figure
2.24).
In the Selection explorer the default input value of the distributed load is
-1.0 kN/m2 in the y-direction. The input value will later be changed to the
real value when the load is activated.
Drag the set "Footing" to the draw area and drop it on the footing. Note
that the shape of the cursor changes to indicate that it is valid to drop the
material set.
Close the database by clicking the OK button.
Hint: If the Material sets window is displayed over the footing and
hides it, click on its header and drag it to another position.
Calculations
Proceed to the Staged construction mode.
The initial phase is the same as in the previous case.
Double-click the following phase (Phase_1) and enter an appropriate
name for the phase ID. Keep Plastic as Calculation type and keep
Staged construction as loading type.
Close the Phases window.
In the Staged construction mode activate the load and plate. The model
is shown in Figure 2.25.
point of interest and click Search closest. The nodes and stress points
located near that specific location are listed.
Select the node at exactly (0.0 4.0) by checking the box in front of it. The
selected node is indicated by A in the model when the Selection labels
option is selected in the Mesh menu.
right-click and select Mark for calculation from the pop-up menu.
Click the Calculate button to start the calculation.
Save the project after the calculation has finished.
For the xaxis, select point A (0.00 / 4.00) from the drop-down menu.
Select the |u| option for the Total displacements option of the
Deformations.
For the y axis, select the Project option from the drop-down menu.
Select the Mstage option of the Multipliers. Mstage is the proportion
of the specified changes that has been applied. Hence the value will
range from 0 to 1, which means that 100% of the prescribed load has
been applied and the prescribed ultimate state has been fully reached.