An innovative interface friction algorithm for simulating dynamic installation of anchors using CEL approach

Abstract

Dynamic installation of anchors is now commonly simulated using the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) approach in ABAQUS/Explicit. However, capturing anchor (Lagrange)-soil (Eulerian) interface frictional resistance during continuous penetration remains a challenge. This paper introduces an advanced frictional resistance algorithm called the Integrated Nodal Friction Algorithm (INFA) to improve the accuracy of capturing frictional resistance, and to increase computational efficiency. The innovative features of the method include automatic capturing of the anchor nodes in contact with the adjacent soil, estimating local shear strength of the contacted soil nodes, and calculating frictional resistance for the identified contacted areas based on the estimated local shear strengths. The algorithm was validated against centrifuge test data for a free-fall piezocone penetrometer, with good agreement obtained in terms of measured frictional resistance and end bearing profiles with penetration depth, and final tip embedment depth. Parametric analyses were then conducted for optimising mesh sizes and output frequency. Performance of the INFA method was compared with the existing two methods, demonstrating that the proposed algorithm is capable of improving the accuracy of capturing anchor-soil interface frictional resistance profile along the penetration depth.