Numerical Modelling of Dynamic Response of a Partially Saturated Poroelastic Half-Space in Case of a Load Acting Inside a Cubic Cavity

Abstract

Computer modeling based on the boundary element method is performed for the problem of loading in terms of the Heaviside step function inside a cubic cavity located in a partially saturated poroelastic half-space. A poroelastic medium is represented by a heterogeneous material-based model consisting of an elastic matrix phase and two phases of fillers – liquid and gas filling the pore system. The material model corresponds to a three-component medium. The constitutive relations of poroelastic medium written in terms skeleton displacements and pore pressures of fillers are considered. The original initial-boundary value problem is reduced to a boundary value problem by using the formal application of the Laplace transform. The research technique is based on the direct approach boundary integral equations of 3D isotropic linear theory of poroelasticity. Boundary integral equations corresponding to the boundary value problem are solved by the boundary element method in combination with the collocation method. In this study 8-noded elements have been adopted to discretize the boundary of poroelastic half-space. It is assumed that the element is linear with respect to displacements and pore pressures, while only one central node is used to represent tractions and fluxes. Algorithms for eliminating singularities, decreasing the order and subdividing elements are employed to compute the integral coefficients of a discrete analogue of the boundary integral equation. Regular integrals are calculated using the Gauss quadrature formula. The solution in time is obtained by numerical inversion of the Laplace transform. The numerical inversion method relies on quadrature formulas for computing the convolution integral. The time dependences of unknown displacement functions and pore pressures at points on the surface of the half-space and the cavity are plotted. The corresponding graphs are given. The influence of the cavity depth and degree of saturation on dynamic responses is investigated. The solution obtained by using the model of a fully saturated poroelastic material is compared to that of partially saturated poroelastic material. It is noted that the model used for solving this problem leads to an underestimation of displacement and overestimation of pore pressure estimates.