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CONNECT Edition V21.01
PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road embankment [ADV]

Last Updated: March 16, 2021
Construction of a road embankment [ADV]
1
The construction of an embankment on soft soil with a high groundwater level leads to an increase in pore
pressure. As a result of this undrained behaviour, the effective stress remains low and intermediate
consolidation periods have to be adopted in order to construct the embankment safely. During consolidation the
excess pore pressures dissipate so that the soil can obtain the necessary shear strength to continue the
construction process.
This tutorial concerns the construction of a road embankment in which the mechanism described above is
analysed in detail. In the analysis three new calculation options are introduced, namely a consolidation analysis,
an updated mesh analysis and the calculation of a safety factor by means of a safety analysis (strength
reduction).
Objectives
• Consolidation analysis
• Modelling drains
• Change of permeability during consolidation
• Safety analysis (strength reduction)
• Updated mesh analysis (large deformations)
Geometry
The embankment is 16 m wide and 4 m high. The slopes have an inclination of 1:3. The problem is symmetric, so
only one half is modelled (in this case the right half is chosen). The embankment itself is composed of loose
sandy soil. The subsoil consists of 6 m of soft soil. The upper 3 m is peat and the lower 3 m is clay. The phreatic
level is located 1 m below the original ground surface. Under the soft soil layers there is a dense sand layer of
which 4 m are considered in the model.
12 m 16 m 12 m
Road embankment 4m
Peat 3m
Clay 3m
Dense sand
Figure 1: Situation of a road embankment on soft soil
PLAXIS 2 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

embankment [ADV]
Create new project
Create new project

1.
Start PLAXIS 2D by double clicking the icon of the Input program .
2. Click Start a new project.
3. In the Project tabsheet of the Project properties window, enter an appropriate title.
4. In the Model tabsheet make sure that Model is set to Plane strain and that Elements is set to 15-Noded.
5. Set the model Contour to xmin = 0 m, xmax = 60 m, ymin = -10 m and ymax = 4 m.
Define the soil stratigraphy

The sub-soil layers are defined using a borehole. The embankment layers are defined in the Structures mode.
To define the soil stratigraphy:
1. Click the Create borehole button and create a borehole at x = 0.

The Modify soil layers window pops up.
Figure 2: Soil layer distribution
2. Define three soil layers as shown in figure above.

3. The water level is located at y = -1 m. In the borehole column specify a value of -1 to Head.
Create and assign material data sets

embankment [ADV]
Create and assign material data sets
A number of material set are needed for this tutorial. The properties of the materials are as follows:
Table 1: Material properties of the sand and clay layer and the interfaces
Parameter Nane Embankment Sand Peat Clay Unit
General
Hardening Hardening
Material model - Soft soil Soft soil -
soil soil
Undrained Undrained
Drainage type - Drained Drained -
(A) (A)
Soil unit weight above

γunsat 16 17 8 15 kN/m3
phreatic level
Soil unit weight below

γsat 19 20 12 18 kN/m3
phreatic level
Initial void ratio einit 0.5 0.5 2.0 1.0 -
Parameters
Modified compression index λ* - - 0.15 0.05 -
Modified swelling index κ* - - 0.03 0.01 -
Secant stiffness in standard

E50ref 25 · 103 35 · 103 - - kN/m2
drained triaxial test
Tangent stiffness for primary

Eoedref 25· 103 35 · 103 - - kN/m2
oedometer loading
Unloading / reloading
Eurref 75· 103 105 · 103 - - kN/m2
stiffness
Power for stress-level

m 0.5 0.5 - - -
dependency of stiffness
Cohesion (constant) cref' 1 0 2 1 kN/m2
Friction angle φ' 30 33 23 25 °
Dilatancy angle ψ 0 3 0 0 °
Advanced: Set to default Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -
Groundwater
Data set - USDA USDA USDA USDA -

embankment [ADV]
Define the construction
Parameter Nane Embankment Sand Peat Clay Unit
Van Van Van Van

Model - -
Genuchten Genuchten Genuchten Genuchten
Soil type - Loamy sand Sand Clay Clay -
> 2μm - 6.0 4.0 70.0 70.0 %
2μm - 50μm - 11.0 4.0 13.0 13.0 %
50μm - 2mm - 83.0 92.0 17.0 17.0 %
From data From data From data

Use defaults - None -
set set set
Horizontal permeability kx 3.499 7.128 0.1 0.04752 m/day
Vertical permeability ky 3.499 7.128 0.05 0.04752 m/day
Change in permeability ck 1 · 1015 1 · 1015 1.0 0.2 -
Interfaces
Interface strength - Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid -
Strength reduction factor Rinter 1 1 1 1 -
Initial
K0 determination - Automatic Automatic Automatic Automatic -
Overconsolidation ratio OCR 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 -
Pre-overburden pressure POP 0 0 5 0 kN/m2
To create the material sets, follow these steps:
1.
Click the Materials button to open the Material sets window.
2. Create soil material data sets according to Table 20 (on page 4) and assign them to the corresponding layers
in the borehole (see Figure 91 (on page 3)).
3. Close the Modify soil layers window and proceed to the Structures mode to define the embankment and
drains.
Note: The initial void ratio (einit) and the change in permeability (ck) should be defined to enable the modelling
of a change in the permeability in a consolidation analysis due to compression of the soil. This option is
recommended when using advanced models.

embankment [ADV]
The embankment and the drains are defined in the Structures mode.
1. Click the Structures tab to proceed with the input of structural elements in the Structures mode.
To define the embankment:
1. Click the Create soil polygon button in the side toolbar and select the Create soil polygon option.
2. Define the embankment in the drawing area by clicking on (0 0), (0 4), (8 4) and (20 0).
3. Right-click the created polygon and assign the Embankment data set to the soil polygon.
Figure 3: Assignment of a material dataset to a soil cluster in the drawing area

4. To define the embankment construction level click the Cut polygon button in the side toolbar and define
a cutting line by clicking on (0 2) and (14 2).
The embankment cluster is split into two sub-clusters.
To define the drains
In this project the effect of the drains on the consolidation time will be investigated by comparing the results
with a case without drains. Drains will only be active for the calculation phases in the case with drains.
1. Click the Create hydraulic conditions button in the side toolbar and select the Create drain option in the
appearing menu.
2. Drains are defined in the soft layers (clay and peat; y = 0 m to y = -6 m). The distance between two
consecutive drains is 2 m. Considering the symmetry, the first drain is located at 1 m distance from the model
boundary. 10 drains will be created in total. The head is defined at 0.0 m.
Figure 4: Final geometry of the model

embankment [ADV]
Generate the mesh
Note:
The modelling of drains in a plane strain model actually involves the use of an equivalent (lateral) permeability
in the surrounding soil based on the drain pattern. The latter has been omitted in this simplified example. More
information can be in found in literature1.
Generate the mesh

In order to generate the mesh, follow these steps:
1. Proceed to Mesh mode.

2. Click the Generate mesh button in the side toolbar. For the Element distribution parameter, use the
option Medium (default).
3. Click the View mesh button to view the mesh.
Figure 5: The generated mesh

4. Click the Close tab to close the Output program.
Define and perform the calculation

The embankment construction is divided into two phases. After the first construction phase a consolidation
period of 30 days is introduced to allow the excess pore pressures to dissipate. After the second construction
phase another consolidation period is introduced from which the final settlements may be determined. Hence, a
total of four calculation phases have to be defined besides the initial phase.
Initial phase: Initial conditions
In the initial situation the embankment is not present.

The remaining active geometry is horizontal with horizontal layers, so the K0 procedure can be used to
calculate the initial stresses.
1 Achtergronden bij numerieke modellering van geotechnische constructies, deel 2. CUR 191. Stichting CUR,
Gouda Indraratna, B.N., Redana, I.W., Salim, W. (2000), Predicted and observed behaviour of soft clay
foundations stabilised with vertical drains. Proc. GeoEng. 2000, Melbourne.

embankment [ADV]
Figure 6: Configuration of the initial phase
The initial water pressures are fully hydrostatic and based on a general phreatic level located at y = -1 m. Note
that a phreatic level is automatically created at y = -1 m, according to the value specified for Head in the
borehole. In addition to the phreatic level, attention must be paid to the boundary conditions for the
consolidation analysis that will be performed during the calculation process. Without giving any additional
input, all boundaries except for the bottom boundary are draining so that water can freely flow out of these
boundaries and excess pore pressures can dissipate. In the current situation, however, the left vertical boundary
must be closed because this is a line of symmetry, so horizontal flow should not occur. The remaining
boundaries are open because the excess pore pressures can be dissipated through these boundaries. In order to
define the appropriate consolidation boundary conditions, follow these steps:
1. In the Model explorer expand the Model conditions subtree.

2. Expand the GroundwaterFlow subtree and set BoundaryXMin to Closed and BoundaryYMin to Open.
Figure 7: The boundary conditions of the problem
Consolidation analysis
A consolidation analysis introduces the dimension of time in the calculations. In order to correctly perform a
consolidation analysis a proper time step must be selected. The use of time steps that are smaller than a critical
minimum value can result in stress oscillations.
The consolidation option in PLAXIS 2D allows for a fully automatic time stepping procedure that takes this
critical time step into account. Within this procedure there are three main possibilities:

embankment [ADV]
Consolidate for a predefined period, including the effects of changes to the active geometry (Staged
construction).
Consolidate until all excess pore pressures in the geometry have reduced to a predefined minimum
value (Minimum excess pore pressure).
Consolidate until a specified degree of saturation is reached (Degree of consolidation).
The first two possibilities will be used in this exercise. To define the calculation phases, follow these steps:
Phase 1: First embankment construction

The first calculation stage is a Consolidation analysis, Staged construction.
1. Click the Add phase button to create a new phase.

2.
In the Phases window select the Consolidation option from the Calculation type drop-down menu in
the General subtree.
3.
Make sure that the Staged construction option is selected for the Loading type.
4. Enter a Time interval of 2 days. The default values of the remaining parameters will be used.
5. In the Staged construction mode activate the first part of the embankment.
Figure 8: Configuration of the phase 1
Phase 2: First consolidation period

The second phase is also a Consolidation analysis, Staged construction. In this phase no changes to the
geometry are made as only a consolidation analysis to ultimate time is required.

2.
3.
4. Enter a Time interval of 30 days. The default values of the remaining parameters will be used.
Phase 3: Second embankment construction

embankment [ADV]
2.
3.
4. Enter a Time interval of 1 day. The default values of the remaining parameters will be used.
5. In the Staged construction mode activate the second part of the embankment.
Figure 9: Configuration of the phase 3
Phase 4: End of consolidation

The fourth phase is a Consolidation analysis to a minimum excess pore pressure.

2.
In the General subtree select the Consolidation option as calculation type.
3.
Select the Minimum excess pore pressure option in the Loading type drop-down menu and accept the
default value of 1 kN/m2 for the minimum pressure. The default values of the remaining parameters will be
used.
Safety analysis
In the design of an embankment it is important to consider not only the final stability, but also the stability
during the construction. It is clear from the output results that a failure mechanism starts to develop after the
second construction phase.
It is interesting to evaluate a global safety factor at this stage of the problem, and also for other stages of
construction.
To calculate the global safety factor for the road embankment at different stages of construction, follow these
steps:
1. Select Phase 1 in the Phases explorer.
2.
Add a new calculation phase.
3. Double-click on the new phase to open the Phases window.
4. In the Phases window the selected phase is automatically selected in the Start from phase drop-down
menu.
5.
In the General subtree, select Safety as calculation type.

embankment [ADV]
6.
The Incremental multipliers option is already selected in the Loading input box. The first increment of
the multiplier that controls the strength reduction process, Msf, is set to 0.1.
7. In order to exclude existing deformations from the resulting failure mechanism, select the Reset
displacements to zero option in the Deformation control parameters subtree.
8. The first safety calculation has now been defined.
9. Follow the same steps to create new calculation phases that analyse the stability at the end of each
consolidation phase.
Figure 10: Phases explorer displaying the Safety calculation phases
Calculate
Before starting the calculation it is suggested that you select nodes or stress points for a later generation of load-
displacement curves or stress and strain diagrams. To do this, follow the steps given below.
1. Click the Select points for curves button in the side toolbar.
2. As the first point, select the toe of the embankmentat (20 0).
3. The second point will be used to plot the development (and decay) of excess pore pressures. To this end, a
point somewhere in the middle of the soft soil layers at the left side of the model is needed, hence underneath
the middle of the embankment. For instance at (0 -3).
4. Click the Calculate button to calculate the project.
During a consolidation analysis the development of time can be viewed in the upper part of the calculation info
window.

embankment [ADV]
Results
Figure 11: Calculation progress displayed in the Active tasks window
In addition to the multipliers, a parameter Pexcess,max occurs, which indicates the current maximum excess pore
pressure. This parameter is of interest in the case of a Minimum excess pore pressure consolidation analysis,
where all pore pressures are specified to reduce below a predefined value.
Results
After the calculation has finished, select the third phase and click the View calculation results button .
The Output window now shows the deformed mesh after the undrained construction of the final part of the
embankment. Considering the results of the third phase, the deformed mesh shows the uplift of the embankment
toe and hinterland due to the undrained behaviour.
Figure 12: Deformed mesh after undrained construction of embankment (Phase 3)
1. Select the menu Deformations > Incremental displacements > |Δ u|.

2. Select the menu View > Arrows option in the menu or click the corresponding button in the toolbar to
display the results arrows.
On evaluating the total displacement increments, it can be seen that a failure mechanism is developing:

embankment [ADV]
Results
Figure 13: Displacement increments after undrained construction of embankment
1. Press <Ctrl + 7> to display the developed excess pore pressures (see Appendix C of the Reference Manual for
more shortcuts). They can also be displayed by selecting the menu Stresses > Pore pressures > P excess.
2.
Click the Center principal directions button . The principal directions of excess pressures are displayed
at the center of each soil element. The results are displayed in the following figure.
Figure 14: Excess pore pressures after undrained construction of embankment
It is clear that the highest excess pore pressure occurs under the embankment centre.
1. Select Phase 4 in the drop down menu.
2. Click the Contour lines button in the toolbar to display the results as contours.
3.
Use the Draw scanline button or the corresponding option in the View menu to define the position of
the contour line labels.
It can be seen that the settlement of the original soil surface and the embankment increases considerably during
the fourth phase. This is due to the dissipation of the excess pore pressures (= consolidation), which causes
further settlement of the soil. The figure below shows the remaining excess pore pressure distribution after
consolidation. Check that the maximum value is below 1.0 kN/m2.
Figure 15: Excess pore pressure contours after consolidation to Pexcess < 1.0 kN/m2
The Curves manager can be used to view the development, with time, of the excess pore pressure under the
embankment. In order to create such a curve, follow these steps:
1. Create a new curve by clicking the Curves manager button .
2. For the x-axis, select the Project option from the drop-down menu and select Time in the tree.

embankment [ADV]
Results
3. For the y-axis select the point in the middle of the soft soil layers (Point B) from the drop-down menu. In the
tree select Stresses > Pore pressure > p excess.
4. Select the Invert sign option for the y-axis.
5. Click OK.
6. Open the Curve settings (F3) and go to the second tabsheet.
7. In the Show box click the Phases button. By default all phases are selected to show in the curve. For the
clarity of the curve, hide the Safety phases (phases 5 - 8).
8. Click OK to close the Curve settings window.
A curve similar to the following one should appear:
Figure 16: Development of excess pore pressure under the embankment
The figure above clearly shows the four calculation phases. During the construction phases the excess pore
pressure increases with a small increase in time while during the consolidation periods the excess pore pressure
decreases with time. In fact, consolidation already occurs during construction of the embankment, as this
involves a small time interval. From the curve it can be seen that more than 50 days are needed to reach full
consolidation.
Save the chart before closing the Output program.
Safety analysis results
Additional displacements are generated during a Safety calculation. The total displacements do not have a
physical meaning, but the incremental displacements in the final step (at failure) give an indication of the likely
failure mechanism.
In order to view the mechanisms in the three different stages of the embankment construction:
1.
Select one of these phases and click the View calculation results button .
2. Select the menu Deformations > Incremental displacements > |Δu|.

embankment [ADV]
Results
3. Change the presentation from Arrows to Shadings . The resulting plots give a good impression of the
failure mechanisms. The magnitude of the displacement increments is not relevant.
Figure 17: Shadings of the total displacement increments indicating the most applicable failure mechanism of the
embankment in the final stage
The safety factor can be obtained from the Calculation info option of the Project menu. The Multipliers
tabsheet of the Calculation information window represents the actual values of the load multipliers. The value
of ΣMsf represents the safety factor, provided that this value is indeed more or less constant during the previous
few steps.
The best way to evaluate the safety factor, however, is to plot a curve in which the parameter ΣMsf is plotted
against the displacements of a certain node. Although the displacements are not relevant, they indicate whether
or not a failure mechanism has developed.
In order to evaluate the safety factors for the three situations in this way, follow these steps:
1. Click the Curves manager button in the toolbar.
2. Click New in the Charts tabsheet.
3. In the Curve generation window, select the embankment toe (Point A) for the x-axis. Select Deformations >
Total displacements > |u|.
4. For the y-axis, select Project > Multipliers > ΣMsf. The Safety phases are considered in the chart.
5. Right-click on the chart and select the Settings option in the appearing menu. The Settings window pops up.
6. In the tabsheet corresponding to the curve click the Phases button.
7. In the Select phases window select Phase 5:
Figure 18: The Select phases window

8. Click OK to close the Select phases window.
9. In the Settings window change the titles of the curve in the corresponding tabsheet.
10. Click the Add curve button and select the From current project... option in the appearing menu. Define
curves for phases 6, 7 and 8 by following the described steps.

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Results
11. In the Settings window click the Chart tab to open the corresponding tabsheet.
12. In the Chart tabsheet specify the chart name.
13. Set the scaling of the x-axis to Manual and set the value of Maximum to 1:
Figure 19: The Chart tabsheet in the Settings window

14. Click Apply to update the chart according to the changes made and click OK to close the Settings window.
15. To modify the location of the legend right-click on the legend.
16. In the context menu select View > Legend in chart.
17. The legend can be relocated in the chart by dragging it. The plot is shown as:

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Using drains
Figure 20: Evaluation of safety factor

The maximum displacements plotted are not relevant. It can be seen that for all curves a more or less constant
value of Σ Msf is obtained. Hovering the mouse cursor over a point on the curves, a box showing the exact value
of ΣMsf can be obtained.
Using drains
In this section the effect of the drains in the project will be investigated. Four new phases will be introduced
having the same properties as the first four consolidation phases. The first of these new phases should start from
the initial phase. The differences in the new phases are:
• The drains should be active in all the new phases. Activate them in the Staged construction mode.
• The Time interval in the first three of the consolidation phases (9 to 11) is 1 day. The last phase is set to
Minimum excess pore pressure and a value of 1.0 kN/m2 is assigned to the minimum pressure (|P-stop|).
Follow these steps:
1. After the calculation is finished, save the project, then select the last phase and click the View calculation
results button . The Output window now shows the deformed mesh after the drained construction of the
final part of the embankment. In order to compare the effect of the drains, the excess pore pressure
dissipation in the second point can be used.
2. Click the Curves manager button to open the Curves manager.
3. In the Chart tabsheet double-click Chart 1 (pexcess of the second point at (0 -3) versus time). The chart is
displayed. Close the Curves manager.
4. Double-click the curve in the legend at the right of the chart. The Settings window pops up.
5. Click the Add curve button and select the From current project ... option in the appearing menu. The Curve
generation window pops up.

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Updated mesh and updated water pressures analysis
6. Select the Invert sign option for y-axis and click OK to accept the selected options.
7. In the chart a new curve is added and a new tabsheet corresponding to it is opened in the Settings window.
Click the Phases button. From the displayed window select the Initial phase and the last four phases
(drains) and click OK.
8. In the Settings window change the titles of the curves in the corresponding tabsheets.
9. In the Chart tabsheet specify the chart name.
10. Click Apply to preview the generated curve and click OK to close the Settings window. The chart gives a
clear view of the effect of drains in the time required for the excess pore pressures to dissipate:
Figure 21: Effect of drains
Note:
Instead of adding a new curve, the existing curve can be regenerated using the corresponding button in the
Curves settings window.

As can be seen from the output of the Deformed mesh at the end of consolidation (stage 4), the embankment
settles about one meter since the start of construction. Part of the sand fill that was originally above the phreatic
level will settle below the phreatic level.
As a result of buoyancy forces the effective weight of the soil that settles below the water level will change,
which leads to a reduction of the effective overburden in time. This effect can be simulated in PLAXIS 2D using
the Updated mesh and Updated water pressures options. For the road embankment the effect of using these
options will be investigated.
1. Select the initial phase in the Phases explorer.
2. Add a new calculation phase.
3. Define the new phase in the same way as Phase 1. In the Deformation control parameters subtree check
the Updated mesh and Updated water pressures options.

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4. Define the other 3 phases in the same way.

When the calculation has finished, compare the settlements for the two different calculation methods.
1. In the Curve generation window select time for the x-axis and select the vertical displacement (uy) of the
point in the middle of the soft soil layers at (0 -3) for the y-axis.
2. In this curve the results for Initial phase and phases from 1 to 4 will be considered.
3. Add a new curve to the chart.
4. In this curve the results for Initial phase and phases from 13 to 16 will be considered. The resulting chart is
shown below.
Figure 22: Effect of updated mesh and water pressures analysis on resulting settlements
It can be seen that the settlements are less when the Updated mesh and Updated water pressures options are
used (red curve). This is partly because the Updated mesh procedure includes second order deformation effects
by which changes of the geometry are taken into account, and partly because the Updated water pressures
procedure results in smaller effective weights of the embankment. This last effect is caused by the buoyancy of
the soil settling below the (constant) phreatic level. The use of these procedures allows for a realistic analysis of
settlements, taking into account the positive effects of large deformations.

embankment [ADV]

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CONNECT Edition V21.01

PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road embankment [ADV]

Figure 1: Situation of a road embankment on soft soil

PLAXIS 2 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

Create new project

Define the soil stratigraphy

1. Click the Create borehole button and create a borehole at x = 0.

Figure 2: Soil layer distribution

2. Define three soil layers as shown in figure above.

Create and assign material data sets

PLAXIS 3 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

Parameter Nane Embankment Sand Peat Clay Unit

Soil unit weight above

Soil unit weight below

Initial void ratio einit 0.5 0.5 2.0 1.0 -

Modified compression index λ* - - 0.15 0.05 -

Modified swelling index κ* - - 0.03 0.01 -

Secant stiffness in standard

Tangent stiffness for primary

Power for stress-level

Cohesion (constant) cref' 1 0 2 1 kN/m2

Friction angle φ' 30 33 23 25 °

Advanced: Set to default Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -

Data set - USDA USDA USDA USDA -

PLAXIS 4 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

Parameter Nane Embankment Sand Peat Clay Unit

Van Van Van Van

Soil type - Loamy sand Sand Clay Clay -

> 2μm - 6.0 4.0 70.0 70.0 %

2μm - 50μm - 11.0 4.0 13.0 13.0 %

50μm - 2mm - 83.0 92.0 17.0 17.0 %

From data From data From data

Horizontal permeability kx 3.499 7.128 0.1 0.04752 m/day

Vertical permeability ky 3.499 7.128 0.05 0.04752 m/day

Change in permeability ck 1 · 1015 1 · 1015 1.0 0.2 -

Interface strength - Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid -

Strength reduction factor Rinter 1 1 1 1 -

K0 determination - Automatic Automatic Automatic Automatic -

Overconsolidation ratio OCR 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 -

Pre-overburden pressure POP 0 0 5 0 kN/m2

To create the material sets, follow these steps:

Define the construction

PLAXIS 5 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

To define the embankment:

Figure 3: Assignment of a material dataset to a soil cluster in the drawing area

To define the drains

Figure 4: Final geometry of the model

PLAXIS 6 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

Generate the mesh

1. Proceed to Mesh mode.

Figure 5: The generated mesh

Define and perform the calculation

Initial phase: Initial conditions

In the initial situation the embankment is not present.

PLAXIS 7 PLAXIS 2D - Tutorial Manual - Construction of a road

Figure 6: Configuration of the initial phase

1. In the Model explorer expand the Model conditions subtree.