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Presently, numerical modeling has become a very reliable tool for investigating

problems in geotechnical engineering. This has been due to increasing speed of


computer hardware and advent of very friendly software analytical tools integrating
numerical solutions with graphics and animation in real time. In the past,
geotechnical engineering was considered as essentially an empirical discipline
where physical intuition, field experience and physical testing were the deciding
factors for evaluating geotechnical engineering problems as it was difficult to
evaluate analytical closed-form solutions due to enormous complexities existing in
soil behavior. Though Terzaghi did a pioneering work in developing solutions on the
basis of differential equations; they were derived after making so many simplifying
assumptions governing various physical systems. This approach could not be used
for providing practical solutions involving nonhomogeneous media, nonlinear
mechanical behavior of soil, in situ stress conditions, spatial and temporal variation
in soil properties, irregular and arbitrary geometries, and various discontinuities in
the system, and various other variable constraints imposed by the system. Even
simulation of actual test conditions in soil laboratory may be difficult to replicate
and it is more realistic to conduct numerical modeling instead of experimental
testing. Even physical modeling is prone to various modelling errors and centrifuge
modeling may not be amenable to various problems and may not be accessible at
all locations and may prove to be an expensive proposition.

Numerical modeling has come as a boon to geotechnical engineer as that has


turned him from an approximate specialist to a more confident, precise and exact
expert with utmost reliability and validity in his design and prediction of soil
behavior. Problems of liquefaction, sudden subsidence, and dynamic behavior of soil
due to hydrodynamic forces can be solved to highest degree of perfection. Use of
geosynthetics has opened a new avenue for using polymer products from
engineering the soil behavior to solve various geotechnical, geo-structural and geoenvironmental issues.

Predominantly, two numerical methods are used in geotechnical engineering finite


element method and finite difference method and among them finite element
method has gained more acceptance though finite difference method is convenient
in certain situations. Several other numerical methods like numerical integration of
governing equations, method of characteristics, the boundary-integral-equation
method or a combination of closed form and numerical solutions have also been
used. But among all finite element method is the predominant methods among all
other methods.

The basic philosophy regarding deployment of all numerical techniques is the top
to down approach that is discretization i.e. a procedure in which complex problem
is divided smaller parts or components. The mode of discretization may differ
depending on the numerical method being employed like in finite element

method, discretization is of physical body or continuum that constitutes the entire


system while in finite difference method, basic governing equation is discretized.

The basic problems in geotechnical engineering can be classified under five heads:
1) Steady (or equilibrium based), 2) Transient (or propagation), 3) Eigenvalue based
dynamic problems, 4) Interaction based problems (Soil-structure-Fluid interaction),
5) Sudden transient loading problems (Shock waves).
The fundamental problems in steady or equilibrium state are the stress-stress
deformation analyses for foundations, slopes, banks, tunnels, reinforced soil walls,
ground improvement analysis etc. The transient or propagation problems may
involve stress-deformation behavior of soil structures under time-dependent forces,
consolidation analysis, viscoelastic analysis, transient fluid flow and dispersion,
wave propagation etc. The eigenvalues problems may involve evaluation of natural
frequencies of foundations and structures under dynamic loadings. Interaction
problems may involve soil-structure interaction, soil-structure-fluid interaction and
many other interaction effects. Sudden transient loading may occur due to blast,
earthquake, and tsunamis and should be separately studied.

Why finite element method has taken over finite difference method over recent
years, well the simple answer it is more practical even though it does not possess
the rigorous mathematical base of finite difference method and still lot of work
needs to be done to give it a sound mathematical moorings yet it works. Though
intuitively finite difference method came to the engineer with sufficient ease as a
considerable mathematical basis for solving differential equations was already
existing. What won the day for finite element method is the ease, diverse
applicability and generalization for the solutions of complex problems that had
defied the conventional, empirical and closed-form solutions.

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