FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.

com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Order Demos Updates Support Hello Luca!

An Itasca International Company

Home Consulting Software Projects About Us

Home Software FLAC3D

FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model Details and System

Requirements
Introduction New in 6.00
How can I get the PH Model for FLAC3D 5.0? New in 5.01
Calibration
Features
Verification
Optional Features
Triaxial Compression: PH Model versus Mohr-Coulomb Model
Rough Strip Footing on a Cohesive Frictionless Material
Videos
Validation
FLAC3D Demo
Plastic Hardening Model - Theory and Examples (PDF manual)
Product Manager's
References
Corner

Sales
Introduction FLAC3D Updates
Soils being excavated usually exhibit a decrease in stiffness accompanied FLAC3D
Installation Files
by irreversible deformation or failure. This plasticity effect accounts for grain
FLAC3D Plastic
crushing and rearrangement, resulting in a nonlinear stress-strain Hardening Model
relationship. Numerical modeling of plastic soil hardening is well known Scripting FISH in
inside the civil geotechnical community worldwide. It has become a common FLAC3D
constitutive model for civil engineering design in many areas, such as
excavations, foundations, tunneling, and soil-structure interaction in general.
Several regulatory agencies, especially in Europe, require (or at least
strongly endorse) this type of constitutive model for civil applications.

Itasca has formulated a new Plastic Hardening (PH) constituent model for
FLAC and FLAC3D. The PH model is a shear and volumetric hardening
constitutive model for the simulation of plastic soil behavior (i.e., when
subject to deviatoric loading, they usually exhibit a decrease in stiffness,
accompanied by irreversible deformation). The PH model has been
developed based on the work by Schanz et al. (1999), which extends the

1 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

hyperbolic soil linear elastic model (Duncan and Chang, 1970) to an elasto-
plastic material model. This avoids the main drawbacks of the hyperbolic
formulation:

difficulty in detecting and characterizing unloading/reloading, and

in specific cases, producing a nonphysical bulk-modulus value that
can lead to an erroneous energy generation in the model.

The main features of the new PH model are:

hyperbolic stress-strain relationship in axial drained compression;

plastic strain in mobilizing friction (shear hardening);
plastic strain in primary compression (volumetric hardening);
stress-dependent stiffness according to a power law;
elastic unloading/reloading compared to virgin loading;
memory of pre-consolidation stress;
Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion;
easy to calibrate using either lab tests or in-situ tests; and
it uses familiar properties, names, and conventions in civil
engineering.

How can I get the PH Model for FLAC3D

5.0?
The new Plastic Hardening model will be a standard constitutive model in
FLAC3D 6.0 when it is released next year. However, Itasca is making the PH
model available immediately for free to FLAC3D 5.0 owners who
pre-purchase FLAC3D 6.0.

To pre-purchase FLAC3D 6.0, please contact your local Itasca software

agent. You must already own a FLAC3D 5.0 license; upgrade options from
earlier versions to FLAC3D 5.0 are available.

If you have already pre-purchased FLAC3D 6.0 and would like to request
the PH Model for FLAC3D 5.0, please contact your local Itasca software
agent. The PH model for FLAC3D 5.0 is a C++ User-Defined Model (UDM)
and requires the C++ UDM option. If you do not currently own this option,
Itasca will provide a free temporary lease license until FLAC3D 6.0 is
officially released.

Calibration

2 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

The PH model is very easy and straightforward to calibrate from either lab
tests or in-situ tests. Guidelines are provided in the Plastic Hardening Model
Manual to streamline the calibration process.The following plots show the
very good calibration fits that were achieved using triaxial compression test
data (with loading as well as unloading/reloading) of fine Monterey Sand
with confining pressures of 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 MPa and initial void ratios of
0.783, 0.786, and 0.781 (Lade, 1972).

Figure 1. Plot of deviatoric stress vs. axial strain for consolidated, drained triaxial lab tests of fine
Monterey Sand (lab tests - dots; PH model - curves).

3 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Figure 2. Plot of volumetric strain vs. axial strain for consolidated, drained triaxial lab tests of fine
Monterey Sand (lab tests - dots; PH model - curves).

Verification
Triaxial Compression: PH Model versus Mohr-Coulomb Model

A comparison between the PH and MC models was done using a

single-zone triaxial compression test with 100 kPa confinement stress in
FLAC3D.

Stress-strain curves for the two models can be seen in the following plot and
it can be verified that:

the ultimate failure deviatoric stresses are the same for both models;
for the pre-failure curve, the PH and MC models are crossing at the
half of the failure stress, which is consistent to the concept of
stiffness; and
the unloading stiffness is the same as the loading stiffness for the MC
model, while these are different for the PH model

4 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Figure 3. Plot of deviatoric stress versus axial strain for both PH and MC models of a single-zone
triaxial test.

Rough Strip Footing on a Cohesive Frictionless Material

The prediction of collapse loads under steady plastic-flow conditions can be

difficult for a numerical model to simulate accurately (Sloan and Randolph,
1982). As a two-dimensional example of a steady-flow problem, we consider
the determination of the bearing capacity of a strip footing on a cohesive
frictionless material (Tresca model). The value of the bearing capacity (q) is
obtained when steady plastic flow has developed underneath the footing,
providing a measure of the ability of the software to model this condition.

Figure 4. Prandtl mechanism for a strip footing.

5 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

For this verification problem, half-symmetry and plane-strain conditions are

assumed as shown below. The model is 10 m high, 20 m wide, and 1 m
thick. The apparent width of the footing is taken to be 3 m, plus half the zone
width adjacent to the footing edge (since forces are exerted on the footing by
this zone, we assume that the forces are divided equally between left and
right grid points). A velocity of magnitude of 0.5 105 m/step is applied at
the contact nodes for a total of 25,000 calculation steps.

Figure 5. Boundary conditions for FLAC3D analysis using half-symmetry.

The strip footing is located on soil with the following properties:

Table 1. The soil bearing capacity can be calculated as part of the solution to
the Prandtls wedge problem as given by Terzaghi and Peck (1967).

PROPERTY VALUE MATERIAL MODEL

shear modulus (G, GPa) 0.1 Mohr-Coulomb

bulk modulus (K, GPa) 0.2 Plastic Hardening

cohesion (c, MPa) 0.1

6 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

friction angle (, )* 0.01 (~0)

dilation angle (, ) 0

Poisson's Ratio (-) 0.2857

Young's Modulus (GPa) 0.257

E50_ref (GPa) 0.257 Plastic Hardening

Eoed_ref (GPa) 0.2056

pref (MPa) 0.1

m (-) 0.8

Rf (-) 0.9

Knc (-) 0.6

OCR (-) 1, 2, 100

*In order to avoid possible numerical instability, a zero-degree friction angle is replaced by a small value of 0.01

degree, which will have an insignificant impact to the final magnitude of the result.

Displacement contours and velocity vectors at the end of the run are shown
below and are in good agreement with the Prandtl mechanism for a strip
footing.

7 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Figure 6. FLAC3D plot of displacement vectors and contours due to foundation loading.

The load-displacement curve corresponding to the numerical simulation is

shown below, in which p load is the normalized average footing pressure,
p/c, and c disp is the magnitude of the normalized vertical displacement,
uz/a, at the center of the footing. The bearing capacity predicted by the MC
model was close to the Prandtls Wedge closed-form solution. However, the
pre-failure part of the load-displacement curve by the MC model is based on
the assumption that the soil has a constant stiffness before failure, which
may not be realistic. This problem is re-modeled with the PH model. The
cohesion, friction, and dilation angles are the same. Three cases (OCR = 1,
2, and 100) are considered for the PH model. A high value of OCR equal to
100 approximately represents no cap hardening effect.

The MC and PH models all predict approximately the same ultimate bearing
capacity (with a relative error of 1.7% from the analytical solution). However,
from the figure below, the pre-failure parts of the load-displacement curves
are quite different. First, all pre-failure parts predicted by the PH model are
smooth curves, while the MC model load-displacement curve is initially
linear with a sudden change to the smooth curve later on. When the MC
curve hits the closed-form line, there is another non-smooth corner. In
addition, the lower the OCR in the PH model, the lower the initial tangent
stiffness of the load-displacement curve occurs. This case illustrates that
although the MC model is sufficient to predict the ultimate bearing capacity,

8 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

when pre-failure behavior is significant, use of the PH model is

recommended.

Figure 7. Normalized load-displacement curves comparing the Prandtl analytical solution to the soil
response for an MC model and the several PH models with different over-consolidation ratios.

Validation
The benchmark exercise described by Schweiger (2002), consisting of a
deep excavation problem in Berlin sand, is the basis for this example
application. The problem studied by Schweiger (2002) is also documented in
the Plaxis Material Models Manual (2015). Both references are used here.
The geometry, basic assumptions, and computational steps adopted for this
example are taken from the benchmark exercise. The model parameters are
adapted from the Plaxis example description.

A sketch of the problem conditions in the benchmark exercise is shown

below. The soil profile consists of two horizontal sand layers. The thickness
of the top layer (Layer 1) is 20 m, and the bottom layer (Layer 2) extends to
a depth of 100 m below the surface. The excavation is 60 m wide, and the
final depth is 16.8 m. Plane-strain conditions and half symmetry are used for

9 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

the problem. The soil is modeled with the PH model. The wall is modeled by
the linear elastic liner structural elements. The anchors are modeled by
cable structural elements. The connection between the liner and the cables
is through breast-beams with rigid links. Several specifications and the
construction sequence, taken from Schweiger (2002) are adopted for this
example:
The influence of the diaphragm wall construction is neglected.
The diaphragm wall is modeled using liner structural elements
(Youngs modulus = 30 GPa, Poissons ratio = 0.15, thickness
= 0.8 m).
The horizontal hydraulic cutoff at a 30-m depth is not
considered as structural support; the mechanical properties
are assumed to be the same as for the surrounding soil.
Hydrostatic water pressures, corresponding to water levels,
hold inside and outside the excavation. (Full groundwater
lowering inside the excavation is performed before the
excavation starts.)
Anchors are modeled as cables, which are prestressed. The
grouted part allows load transfer to the soil.

Stage 1 Initialize stress state, including groundwater table, 3 m

below soil surface.

Stage 2 Activate diaphragm wall and lower water level to 17.90 m

in pit.

Stage 3 Excavation step 1 (to level 4.80 m).

Stage 4 Activate anchor row 1 at level 4.30 m and prestress

anchors.

Stage 5 Excavation step 2 (to level 9.30 m).

Stage 6 Activate anchor row 2 at level 8.80 m and prestress

anchors.

Stage 7 Excavation step 3 (to level 14.35 m).

Stage 8 Activate anchor row 3 at level 13.85 m and prestress

anchors.

Stage 9 Excavation step 4 (to level 16.80 m).

10 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Figure 8. Problem geometry and excavation stages (after Schweiger, 2002).

The simulated wall deflection for both the MC and PH models are shown
below as compared with the measured data (Schweiger, 2002). While the
MC model predicts several unrealistic observations for wall
deflection (ground lifting behind the wall and over-lifting for the excavation
base at the final excavation stage), the Plastic Hardening model predicts
realistic ground behaviors and compares very well to the measured site
data.

11 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Figure 9. Figure 1: Soil behavior is predicted by the PH model very well, while the Mohr-Coulomb
(MC) constitutive model does not fully capture the ground response for these conditions (after
Schweiger, 2002).

PH Model - Theory and Examples Manual

References
Duncan, J.M. and C.Y. Chang. (1970) Nonlinear analysis of stress and
strain in soil, J. Soil Mech. Found. Div. 96(5), 1629-1653, October.

Lade, P.V. (1972) The stress-strain and strength characteristics of

cohesionless soils. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley,
CA.

Plaxis bv, (2015) Material Models Manual, 216 pages.

Rowe, P.W. (1962) The stress-dilatancy relation for static equilibrium of an

assembly of particles in contact, Proc. Roy. Soc. A. 269(1339), 500-527,

12 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

October.

Schanz, T., P.A. Vermeer, P.G. Bonnier. (1999) The hardening soil model:
formulation and verification, in Beyond 2000 in Computational Geotechnics
- 10 Years of Plaxis, R.B.J. Brinkgreve, Ed. Rotterdam: Balkema.

Schweiger, H.F. (2002) Results from numerical benchmark exercises in

geotechnics, in 5th European Conference Numerical Methods in
Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 1, pp. 305314. Presses de lENPC/LCPC,
Paris.

Sloan, S.W., and M. F. Randolph. Numerical Prediction of Collapse Loads

Using Finite Element Methods, Int. J. Num. & Analy. Methods in Geomech.,
6, 47-76 (1982).

Terzaghi, K., and R. B. Peck. Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice, 2nd

Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons (1967).

Itascan Publications Training Products

JASON FURTNEY STABILITY PFC TRAINING FLAC3D 6.0:

Dr. Furtney is a EVALUATION OF COURSE LEARN MORE
geotechnical engineer UNDERGROUND Itasca's office in The next version of
with experience in the OPENINGS Brisbane, Australia is FLAC3D , Version
petroleum and mining Stability evaluation of hosting a PFC 6.0, is in the late
industries. He is underground software training stages of
experienced with... openings using a course July 20 22, development. Itasca
Discrete Fracture 2016. plans to make the
Network Engineering program available as
(DFNE) approach T. a...
Katsaga Itasca...

Join Our Mailing List

13 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04
FLAC3D Plastic Hardening Model | Itasca Consulting Group http://www.itascacg.com/software/flac3d/flac3d-plastic-hardening-model

Join our mailing list and stay up to date with the

latest news about Itasca and our consulting work
and software.

*Email Address

First Name

Last Name

View our Privacy Policy SIGN UP

2016 Itasca Consulting Group, Inc., An Itasca International Company

111 Third Avenue South, Suite 450 / Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 371-4711 / Fax: (612) 371-4717 / Email: info@itascacg.com

14 di 14 20/07/2016 09:04