Fluid-Mechanical Interaction Contents - 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 FLUID-MECHANICAL INTERACTION — SINGLE PHASE FLUID

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
1.2 FLAC 3D Fluid-Thermal-Mechanical Formulation — Mathematical Description 1-4
1.2.1 Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
1.2.2 Governing Differential Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
1.2.3 Fluid Flow Boundary and Initial Conditions in FLAC 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
1.3 Numerical Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 10
1.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 10
1.3.2 Saturated Fluid Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 11
1.3.2.1 Finite-Difference Approximation to Space Derivatives . . . . . . . 1 - 11
1.3.2.2 Nodal Formulation of the Mass Balance Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 12
1.3.2.3 Explicit Finite-Difference Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 15
1.3.2.4 Implicit Finite-Difference Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 17
1.3.3 Saturated/Unsaturated Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 20
1.3.4 Mechanical Timestep and Numerical Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 22
1.3.5 Total Stress Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 23
1.4 Calculation Modes for Fluid-Mechanical Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 24
1.4.1 Grid Not Configured for Fluid Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 24
1.4.2 Grid Configured for Fluid Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 24
1.5 Properties and Units for Fluid-Flow Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 28
1.5.1 Permeability Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 28
1.5.2 Mass Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 29
1.5.3 Fluid Moduli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 29
1.5.3.1 Biot Coefficient and Biot Modulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 29
1.5.3.2 Fluid Bulk Modulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 30
1.5.3.3 Fluid Moduli and Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 31
1.5.3.4 Fluid Moduli for Drained and Undrained Analyses . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 31
1.5.4 Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 32
1.5.5 Saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 32
1.5.6 Undrained Thermal Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 32
1.5.7 Fluid Tension Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 33
1.6 Fluid-Flow Boundary Conditions, Initial Conditions, Sources and Sinks . . . . . . 1 - 34

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1.7 Solving Flow-Only and Coupled-Flow Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 36

1.7.1 Time Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 36
1.7.2 Selection of a Modeling Approach for a Fully Coupled Analysis . . . . . 1 - 40
1.7.2.1 Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 40
1.7.2.2 Nature of Imposed Perturbation to the Coupled Process . . . . . . 1 - 41
1.7.2.3 Stiffness Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 41
1.7.2.4 Recommended Procedure to Select a Modeling Approach . . . . 1 - 43
1.7.3 Fixed Pore Pressure (Used in Effective Stress Calculation) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 46
1.7.4 Flow-Only Calculation to Establish a Pore-Pressure Distribution . . . . . 1 - 46
1.7.5 No Flow — Mechanical Generation of Pore Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 47
1.7.6 Coupled Flow and Mechanical Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 49
1.8 Verification Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 58
1.8.1 Unsteady Groundwater Flow in a Confined Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 58
1.8.2 One-Dimensional Filling of a Porous Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 66
1.8.3 Steady-State Fluid Flow with a Free Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 71
1.8.4 Spreading of a Groundwater Mound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 82
1.8.5 One-Dimensional Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 90
1.8.6 Transient Fluid Flow to a Well in a Shallow Confined Aquifer . . . . . . . . 1 - 107
1.8.7 Pressuremeter Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 121
1.9 Verification of Concepts and Modeling Techniques for Specific Applications . . 1 - 134
1.9.1 Solid Weight, Buoyancy and Seepage Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 134
1.9.1.1 A Simple Example Illustrating Solid Weight, Buoyancy and Seep-
age Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 135
1.9.2 Pore Pressure Initialization and Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 148
1.9.3 Effect of the Biot Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 154
1.9.3.1 Undrained Oedometer Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 156
1.9.3.2 Pore Pressure Generation in a Confined Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 158
1.9.3.3 Pore Pressure Generation in an Infinite Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 159
1.9.4 Semi-confined Aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 162
1.10 Input Instructions for Fluid-Flow Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 167
1.10.1 FLAC 3D Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 167
1.10.2 FISH Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 177
1.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 178

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TABLES
Table 1.1 Property specification methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 26
Table 1.2 Recommended procedure to select a modeling approach for a fully coupled
analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 44

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FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Definitions for principal directions of permeability tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 25
Figure 1.2 Instantaneous pore pressures generated under an applied load . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 49
Figure 1.3 Pore-pressure distribution at 5000 seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 53
Figure 1.4 Consolidation response — time histories of footing displacements . . . . . . . . . 1 - 53
Figure 1.5 Swelling displacements near a trench with impermeable surfaces . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 56
Figure 1.6 History of pore pressure behind the trench face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 56
Figure 1.7 Displacement histories at the trench crest — vertical (top) and horizontal (bot-
tom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 57
Figure 1.8 Confined flow in a soil layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 58
Figure 1.9 FLAC 3D grid for fluid flow in a confined soil layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 59
Figure 1.10 Comparison of excess pore pressures for the explicit-solution algorithm (ana-
lytical values = lines; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 62
Figure 1.11 Comparison of excess pore pressures for the implicit-solution algorithm (an-
alytical values = lines; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 65
Figure 1.12 Location of filling front (
x vs
t ) — no gravity
(analytical solution = solid line; numerical values = dashed line) . . . . . . . 1 - 70
Figure 1.13 Location of filling front (
x vs
t ) — with gravity
(analytical solution = solid line; numerical values = dashed line) . . . . . . . 1 - 71
Figure 1.14 Problem geometry and boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 72
Figure 1.15 Seepage face solution after Polubarinova-Kochina (1962) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 73
Figure 1.16 Steady-state flow vectors and seepage face solution — Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 77
Figure 1.17 Steady-state flow vectors and seepage face solution — Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 78
Figure 1.18 Steady-state flow vectors for ATTACHed grid — Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 80
Figure 1.19 Steady-state flow vectors for grid with INTERFACE — Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 82
Figure 1.20 FLAC 3D grid and initial state of saturated column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 83
Figure 1.21 Saturation contours and analytical mound elevation at tˆ = 0.35 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 88
Figure 1.22 Saturation contours and analytical mound elevation at tˆ = 0.45 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 88
Figure 1.23 Saturation contours and analytical mound elevation at tˆ = 0.65 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 89
Figure 1.24 Saturation contours and analytical mound elevation at tˆ = 0.85 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 89
Figure 1.25 Head contours and analytical mound elevation at tˆ = 0.85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 90
Figure 1.26 One-dimensional consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 91
Figure 1.27 FLAC 3D grid for one-dimensional consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 94
Figure 1.28 Comparison between analytical and numerical values of pore pressure in a
one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 97
Figure 1.29 Comparison between analytical and numerical values for vertical displacement
in a one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 97
Figure 1.30 Evolution of pore pressure, total and effective stresses in a one-dimensional
consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 98
Figure 1.31 Comparison between analytical pore-pressure solutions for two large values
of M in a one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 101

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Figure 1.32 Comparison between analytical vertical displacement solutions for two large
values of M in a one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 101
Figure 1.33 Comparison between analytical and numerical values of pore pressure in a
one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 105
Figure 1.34 Comparison between analytical and numerical values for vertical displacement
in a one-dimensional consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 106
Figure 1.35 Evolution of pore pressure, total and effective stresses in a one-dimensional
consolidation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 106
Figure 1.36 Flow to a well in a shallow confined aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 107
Figure 1.37 FLAC 3D grid for a well in a shallow aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 110
Figure 1.38 Pore-pressure distribution at 4, 8, 16 and 32 seconds
— coupled solution
(analytical values = dashed line; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 118
Figure 1.39 Pore-pressure distribution at 4, 8, 16 and 32 seconds
— uncoupled solution
(analytical values = dashed line; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 118
Figure 1.40 Radial, tangential and vertical stress distributions at 32 seconds
— coupled solution
(analytical values = dashed lines; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 119
Figure 1.41 Radial, tangential and vertical stress distributions at 32 seconds
— uncoupled solution
(analytical values = dashed lines; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 119
Figure 1.42 Radial displacement distribution at 32 seconds
— coupled solution
(analytical values = dashed line; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 120
Figure 1.43 Radial displacement distribution at 32 seconds
— uncoupled solution
(analytical values = dashed line; numerical values = crosses) . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 120
Figure 1.44 Cylindrical cavity expansion in pressuremeter test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 121
Figure 1.45 Domain of FLAC 3D simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 123
Figure 1.46 FLAC 3D grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 123
Figure 1.47 Pore-pressure profiles — 300 seconds consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 125
Figure 1.48 Profiles of radial and tangential normal stresses — 300 seconds consolidation 1 - 125
Figure 1.49 Pore-pressure profiles — 600 seconds consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 126
Figure 1.50 Profiles of radial and tangential normal stresses — 600 seconds consolidation 1 - 126
Figure 1.51 Pore-pressure profile — 600 seconds consolidation
(Mohr-Coulomb material) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 127
Figure 1.52 Profiles of radial and tangential normal stresses — 600 seconds consolidation
(Mohr-Coulomb material) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 128
Figure 1.53 Vertical stress versus elevation — dry layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 136
Figure 1.54 Vertical stress versus elevation — saturated layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 137
Figure 1.55 Pore pressure contours at steady state — saturated layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 138
Figure 1.56 Heave of the layer at steady state — saturated layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 139
Figure 1.57 Heave of the layer at steady state — seepage force from over-pressured aquifer 1 - 140

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Figure 1.58 Settlement of the layer at steady state — seepage force from under-pressured
aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 142
Figure 1.59 Heave of a soil layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 150
Figure 1.60 Decomposition of stresses acting on a porous, elastic rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 155
Figure 1.61 Shallow semi-confined aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 162
Figure 1.62 Pore pressure profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 164

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EXAMPLES
Example 1.1 Adding load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 48
Example 1.2 A coupled fluid flow-mechanical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 51
Example 1.3 Maintaining equilibrium under time-dependent swelling conditions . . . . . . 1 - 54
Example 1.4 Unsteady groundwater flow in a confined layer — explicit solution . . . . . . 1 - 60
Example 1.5 Unsteady groundwater flow in a confined layer — implicit solution . . . . . . 1 - 63
Example 1.6 1D filling of a porous region — no gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 67
Example 1.7 1D filling of a porous region — with gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 68
Example 1.8 Steady-state flow through a vertical embankment — Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 74
Example 1.9 Steady-state flow through a vertical embankment — Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 76
Example 1.10 Steady-state flow through a vertical embankment — Case 1 with ATTACHed
grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 78
Example 1.11 Steady-state flow through a vertical embankment — Case 1 with INTERFACE 1 - 80
Example 1.12 Spreading of a groundwater mound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 83
Example 1.13 Spreading of a groundwater mound — saturation and head plots . . . . . . . . . 1 - 85
Example 1.14 One-dimensional consolidation (coupled) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 94
Example 1.15 One-dimensional consolidation (analytical solution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 98
Example 1.16 One-dimensional consolidation (uncoupled) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 102
Example 1.17 Transient fluid flow to a well in a shallow aquifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 112
Example 1.18 Exponential integral function — “EXP INT.FIS” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 117
Example 1.19 Pressuremeter test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 128
Example 1.20 Generate tables — “MAKET.FIS” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 133
Example 1.21 Solid weight, buoyancy and seepage forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 142
Example 1.22 Heave of a soil layer, without config fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 151
Example 1.23 Heave of a soil layer, with config fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 152
Example 1.24 Undrained oedometer test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 157
Example 1.25 Pore pressure generation in a confined sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 158
Example 1.26 Pore pressure generation in an infinite layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 160
Example 1.27 Shallow confined aquifer with leaky boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 164

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