Soil–Water-Structure Interaction Algorithm in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) with Application to Deep-Penetrating Problems

Abstract

A fully coupled soil–water-structure interaction algorithm was presented in the framework of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). In this algorithm, soil–water interaction was simulated based on the two-phase mixture theory. Each phase of the mixture occupies part of the macroscopic mixture and satisfies its own conservation equations of mass and momentum. The Drucker–Prager model with nonassociated plastic flow rule was used to describe the constitutive behavior of soil. The water was treated as Newtonian fluid. Interaction between soil and water was modeled by the pore water pressure and the viscous drag force. The structure was considered as rigid and the interaction with soil/water was modeled by the frictional sliding contact algorithm. With this algorithm, it is possible to investigate pore water pressure, the effective stress and deformation of the soil undergoing large deformation. Moreover, the effect of the temporal and spatial evolution of soil porosity was taken into consideration. This study first examined the proposed algorithm for a U-tube seepage problem and a two-dimensional consolidation problem. Afterwards, the continuous deep penetrating process of the spudcan, which involved large soil deformation and complex soil–water-structure interaction, was simulated under axisymmetric conditions. The comparison with previous research indicates the robustness and applicability of the proposed algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed approach could be a potentially efficient tool helping to reveal the mechanism of soil failure in geotechnical, costal and ocean engineering.