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XFEM Based Discontinuity Simulation for Saturated Soil
Abstract
Discontinuity is a phenomenon that may occur in many circumstances. It is of great importance in analyzing structures and foundations. In the present paper, the crack formation in soil is simulated and analyzed. Instead of the widely adopted discrete element method (DEM), which is a good yet time-consuming method, the extended finite element method (X-FEM) is employed. In order to model the saturated soil, two additional enrichments are supplemented in the FEM scheme. The pore pressure and additional displacement of the shear band are well reproduced by the corresponding enrichments. In the end, a soil block subjected to surface loading is simulated as a numerical example.