Simulation of Oedometer test using Finite Element Method
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Date
2018-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
One-dimensional consolidation test is one of the commonly conducted laboratory tests used to determine the stiffness and compression properties of fine grained soils. Study on predicting bearing capacity and compressibility of clay soils is still attracting interests of geotechnical researchers. Besides the laboratory or field tests, finite element method is used increasingly to deal with such problems.
Abaqus 2D finite element software is used in this Thesis to simulate the one-dimensional consolidation ( Oedometer) test which were conducted on cohesive specimens of red clay soils collected from Adisu Gebeya, Kolfe and Rufael area. In the finite element analysis, a constitutive soil model, Modified Drucker-Prager / Cap plasticity were used to simulate the Oedometer test. An axisymmetric finite element model using the program Abaqus is used in order to establish numerical models and analysis procedures that help to simulate the actual Oedometer test.
Appropriate boundary conditions were taken in to account during setting of the finite element models to simulate the actual no lateral displacement of the test in the laboratory. The applied pressures on the one-dimensional cell were also presented as a uniform distributed load and are loaded incrementally based on their magnitude on the top of the models.
The measured settlements at the end of Oedometer tests were observed close to the calculated values from the finite element analysis.Compressibility curves for the red clay specimens were generated considering three different cases from the finite element analysis and compared with the curves obtained from the laboratory. From these curves a corresponding strain for the additional pressure exerted due to the proposed structure can be determined easly.Hence, the results obtained from the finite element analysis can be used for preliminary design of foundations.
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Constitutive model, Finite Element Method (FEM), Cap hardening, Oedometer test