Mathematical modelling and study of the consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with an incompressible fluid by FEM

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to validate and to solve a model for consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with incompressible fluid. Firstly, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the variational problem corresponding to an initial and boundary value problem (IBVP): a special case of the Biot’s ‘consolidation of clay’ model (where the applied forces depend on time). Secondly, we prove the stability of the method as well as the estimation of the error by using semi-discretization in time. Finally, we then solved this one by the finite element method (FEM) employing repeated fixed point techniques in order to obtain the results for displacement and pore water pressure. The pore fluid is considered incompressible. The results of the numerical experiments are compared with analytical solutions and, in cases where such solutions do not exist, with experimental data.