Numerical modelling of complex geotechnical problems - Three examples

Over the last decades numerical methods have gained increasing importance in practical geotechnical engineering and have become a standard tool in geotechnical design, widely accepted by the geotechnical profession. In this presentation the application of advanced numerical models for solving practical geotechnical problems is shown whereas the examples have been chosen in such a way that different aspects are highlighted in each case. Results from fibre-optic measurements for a pull-out test of a ground anchor in soft soil could be reproduced by employing advanced constitutive models, in particular for the grout, in the bonded length of the anchor. The back-analysis of a slow-moving landslide is presented next, where the rate of deformation is influenced by water level changes in a reservoir for a pumping power plant, creep of lacustrine sediments and environmental effects such as rainfall infiltration. Finally results of modelling cone penetration testing in silts are presented.