Gravity Settlement in a Coupled PFC-FLAC3D model

	Verification Resources
Data Files	Project: open “Settle.prj”[1] in PFC3D

Problem Statement

The following example illustrates gravit settlement in a vertical column using PFC-FLAC3D coupling. The bar is composed of particles bonded together on the top part of the system, and of zones on the bottom part. The bottom end is a fixed boundary. The PFC and FLAC3D regions overlap over a specified length, where they are coupled using the Ball-Zone couplign scheme. Gravity is activated and the system is solved to equilibrium.

The behavior of the coupled system is compared with a similar system composed of balls alone (| pfc|-only model), and a system composed of zones alone (FLAC3D-only model). The three systems are run side-by-side in the same model.

Numerical Model

The data files “wave_propagation.dat” simulate gravity settlement in a column made up of a coupled PFC-FLAC3D system. The vertical displacement at the top of the system is shown in

Figure 1: Displacement histories.

Figure 2: Displacement contours.

Reference

Endnote

[1]

This file may be found in PFC3D under the “verification_problems/settle” folder in the Examples dialog (Help —> Examples on the menu). If this entry does not appear, please copy the application data to a new directory. (Use the menu commands Tools —> Copy App Data …. See the Copy Application Data section for details.)