Tutorial9 Example3
Tutorial9 Example3
Table of Contents
Page
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y Raft 1 Raft 2
P2 P2
P1 P1
P 1 =1250 kN x
P 2 =1000 kN
Figure 3-1 System of two equal circular rafts
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This tutorial manual will not present the theoretical background of modeling the problem. For
more information concerning the method of analysis, a complete reference for the soil models
and numerical calculation methods are well documented in the User’s Guide of ELPLA.
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After clicking “Next” button, the "Calculation methods" form appears, Figure 3-3.
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The next form is the “System symmetry" (Figure 3-4). In this form choose “Unsymmetrical
system” then click “Next“ button.
The last form of the wizard assistant contains the “Option” list, Figure 3-5. In this list, ELPLA
displays some of the available options corresponding to the used numerical model, which
differ from model to other. Since no option will be considered in the analysis, click the
“Save” button.
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After clicking “Save” button, the "Save As" dialog box appears, Figure 3-6.
- Type a file name for the current project in the “File name” edit box. For example type
“Raft 1”. ELPLA will use automatically this file name in all reading and writing
processes.
- Click “Save” button.
ELPLA will activate the „Data“ menu. Also the file name of the current project [Raft1] will be
displayed instead of the word [Untitled] in the ELPLA-Data title bar, Figure 3-7.
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In the „Data“ menu, the user can enter the remaining data of the project using the same
sequence of commands in this menu. The first command in the menu is „Calculation
methods”, which has been already entered. Therefore, ELPLA had put the sign „√” beside this
command, Figure 3-7. ELPLA puts this sign beside the commands those the user has entered
so that the user can know which data were defined.
- Type the following line to describe the problem in the “Title” edit box:
“Analysis of system of two circular rafts“
- Type the date of the project in the “Date” edit box.
- Type “Raft 1” in the “Project” edit box.
- Click “Save” button.
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After clicking “Next” in “Slab type” form, the following “Generation type” form appears,
Figure 3-10. ELPLA can deal with various type of generations with triangle and/ or
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rectangular elements. Choose the combination of triangle and rectangular elements option as
the generation type. Then click “Next” button to go the next form.
The next form of the “FE-Net generation” wizard is the “Generation parameters” form. In this
form, the default values of generation parameters appear, Figure 3-11. For the given problem,
mesh optimization options are not required. In this form, type 8 in the “No. of circular
divisions ” edit box.
Click “Finish” button in the "Generation parameters" form. ELPLA will generate a suitable
FE-Net for the circular raft of 22 [m] diameter with a combination of triangle and rectangular
elements, which have equal areas. The following embedded program in Figure 3-12 appears
with the generated net.
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After finishing the generation of the FE-Net, do the following two steps:
- Choose “Save FE-Net” command from “File” menu in Figure 3-12 to save the data of
the FE-Net.
- Choose “Close FE-Net” command from “File” menu in Figure 3-12 to close “FE-Net”
embedded program and to return to the main window of ELPLA-Data.
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Es = 9500 [kN/m2]
Ws = 9500 [kN/m2]
The values Es and Ws are the same because the effect of reloading on the soil is not required.
The unit weight of the soil is used to determine the overburden pressure qv [kN/m2] due to the
removed soil, which equal to γs*df. In the current example df = 0.0, which means the unit
weight of the soil is not required. However, the unit weight of the soil under the foundation
depth is entered by the default value. Also, the angle of internal friction φ and the cohesion c
of the soil are not required because the selected type of the analysis is linear analysis.
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Therefore, the user can let the default values of the internal friction and the cohesion. Next,
click “OK” button.
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The corresponding edit box appears allowing you to modify the groundwater depth
under the ground surface, Figure 3-16. To neglect the uplift pressure on the raft,
groundwater level is chosen at anywhere under the raft basement.
- Type 15 in the “Groundwater depth under the ground surface” edit box.
- Click “OK” button
Figure 3-16 “Groundwater depth under the ground surface” edit box
Figure 3-17 "Layer depth under the ground surface" edit box
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After the user has completed the definition of all soil properties and parameters, the screen
should look like the following Figure 3-20.
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After entering all data and parameters of boring log, do the following two steps:
- Choose "Save boring logs" command from “File” menu in Figure 3-20 to save the data
of boring log.
- Choose "Close boring logs" command from “File” menu in Figure 3-20 to close the
ELPLA-Boring sub program and to return to the main window of ELPLA-Data.
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- Choose "Element groups" command from “In Table” menu in the window of Figure 3-
21.
The following list box in Figure 3-22 with default data appears. To enter or modify a
value in this list box, type that value in the corresponding cell then press “Enter” key.
In the list box of Figure 3-22, enter E-Modulus of the raft, Poisson’s ratio of the raft
and raft thickness.
- Click “OK” button.
- Choose "Unit weight of the foundation" command from “Foundation properties” menu
in the window of Figure 3-21.
The following dialog box in Figure 3-23 with a default unit weight of 25 [kN/m3]
appears. To neglect the self-weight of the raft in the analysis, type 0 in the edit box
“Unit weight of the foundation”.
- Click “OK” button.
- Choose "Save foundation properties" command from “File” menu in Figure 3-21 to
save the foundation properties.
- Choose "Close foundation properties" command from “File” menu in Figure 3-21 to
close the “Foundation properties” embedded program and to return to the main
window of ELPLA-Data.
2.6 Loads
To define the loads, choose “Loads” command from “Data” menu of ELPLA-Data. The
following embedded program in Figure 3-24 appears.
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To enter loads:
- Choose “Point loads” command from “In Table” menu in the window of Figure 3-24.
The following list box in Figure 3-25 appears.
- Enter the external point loads P [kN] and their corresponding coordinates (x, y) in the
list box of Figure 3-25. This is done by typing the value in the corresponding cell and
then press “Enter” key.
The coordinates of the point load are related to the lower-left corner of the raft (local
coordinates).
- Click “OK” button.
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After you have completed the definition of all load data, the screen should look like the
following:
After finishing the definition of load data, do the following two steps:
- Choose “Save loads” command from “File” menu in Figure 3-26 to save the load data.
- Choose “Close loads” command from “File” menu in Figure 3-26 to close the “Loads”
embedded program and return to the main window of ELPLA-Data.
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- Choose “Save project as” command from “File” menu of ELPLA-Data. The following
"Save As" dialog box appears, Figure 3-27.
- Type a file name for the project of raft 2 in the file name edit box. For example type
“Raft 2”.
- Click “Save” button.
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- Choose "Save foundation properties" command from “File” menu to save the
foundation properties.
- Choose "Close foundation properties" command from “File” menu to close the
“Foundation properties” embedded program and return to ELPLA-Data.
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As the analysis type is a system of two rafts , select “Analysis of system of many slab
foundations” then click “Next” button.
After clicking “Next” button, "Filenames of slab foundations" list box in Figure 3-32 appears.
To enter the file names of the rafts, which are required to be analyzed as a system of
foundations, click “Add project” command. After clicking “Add project” command, the
"Open" dialog box in Figure 3-33 appears.
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- Type the file name of raft 1 in the file name edit box.
- Click “Open”
Repeat the previous steps and enter the file name of the raft 2. After completing the definition
of file names of the projects, the list box should look like the following figure.
Figure 3-34 “Filenames of slab foundations" list box after entering file names of the projects
Click “Save” button in the “List of filenames of slab foundations" list box in Figure 3-34. The
"Save As" dialog box in Figure 3-35 appears.
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- Type a file name for the project of a system of rafts in the file name edit box. For
example type “Raft 1 + 2”.
- Click “Save” button.
To identify the project, choose "Project identification" command from “Data” menu of
ELPLA-Data. The dialog box in Figure 3-36 appears.
In this dialog box:
- Click “Load” button and open the project identification data of the Raft 1
- Modify “Raft 1” to “Raft 1 + 2” in the “Project” edit box.
- Click “Save” button.
Creating the project that contains the system of rafts 1 and 2 is now complete. The next step is
analyzing the problem.
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ELPLA-Solver automatically opens the data file of the current example and displays the data
file name in the title bar of ELPLA-Solver window. The “Calculation” menu contains
commands of all calculations. Commands of calculation depend on the used calculation
method in the analysis. For the current example, the items, which are required to be
calculated, are:
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The progress of all computations according to the defined method will be carried out
automatically with displaying information through menus and messages.
Analysis progress
Analysis progress menu in Figure 3-39 appears in which various phases of calculation are
progressively reported as the program analyzes the problem. Also, a status bar on the screen
down of the ELPLA-Solver window displays information about the progress of calculation.
Iteration Process:
Information about the convergence progress of the computations is displayed in the „Iteration
process” list box in Figure 3-40 during the iteration process.
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Check of convergence
An accuracy number controls the convergence progress of the solution. The solution is
considered convergent if the accuracy number of the step i+1 is less than that of the previous
step i. The maximum difference between the soil settlement and the slab deflection in [m] is
considered as an accuracy number. A message box appears during the iteration process when
the convergence maybe becomes no longer exist, Figure 3-41.
For example where:
The accuracy number of the iteration No. 5 = 0.00021766310 [m]
And:
The accuracy number of the iteration No. 4 = 0.00020922720 [m]
In this case the user can either stop the iteration process and save the results of iteration No. 5
or continue the iteration process until reaching the convergence.
- Click „OK“ button in the "Check of convergence" message box in Figure 3-41.
The "Iteration process" list box in Figure 3-42 appears. Note that the "Pause" button
changes to "Continue" button.
- Click "Continue" button.
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ELPLA-Graphic window appears, Figure 3-44. ELPLA-Graphic automatically opens the data
file of the current example and displays the data file name in the title bar of ELPLA-Graphic
window.
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ELPLA-Section window appears without file name in the window title bar, Figure 3-47. The
disappearance of the file name in the window title bar indicating ELPLA-Section cannot deal
with the results of a system of rafts directly.
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- Choose “Open” command from “File” menu of ELPLA-Section. Then, open the
project “Raft 1”.
- Choose “Combination from many projects” command from “File” menu of ELPLA-
Section. The following list box in Figure 3-48 appears. ELPLA-Section automatically
considers the project “Raft 1” in the list of projects to be combined.
- Click „Add project“ button in “Combination from many projects" list box. Then open
the project „Raft 2“.
- Click „OK“ button in the “Combination from many projects" list box.
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The following option box in Figure 3-50 appears to specify the section in x-direction that is
required to be plotted.
- Type 11 in the “Section at y-coordinate” edit box to plot a diagram at the middle of
the two rafts.
- Click "OK" button.
The settlements are now plotted in a diagram at the middle of the two rafts together as shown
in Figure 3-51.
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Figure 3-51 Diagram of settlements in x-direction at the middle of the two rafts
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7 Index
C L
Calculation ............................................................... 3-27 load vector ............................................................... 3-27
calculation method ..................................................... 3-4 loads........................................................................... 3-3
Calculation methods..........................................3-5, 3-24 Loads ....................................................................... 3-18
check of the solution ................................................ 3-30
Computation of all.................................................... 3-28
contact pressures ...................................................... 3-27 M
contour lines............................................................. 3-31
Main soil data .......................................................... 3-14
D
O
deformation .............................................................. 3-27
diagram .................................................................... 3-32 origin coordinate ...................................................... 3-22
F P
FE-Net........................................................................ 3-9 Point loads ............................................................... 3-20
flexibility coefficients .............................................. 3-27 Project identification................................ 3-8, 3-21, 3-26
foundation properties ............................................... 3-16
S
G
Save project as ................................3-7, 3-21, 3-24, 3-25
Generation parameters ............................................. 3-10 Slab type .................................................................... 3-9
Graphic..................................................................... 3-31 soil...............................................................................3-4
soil properties........................................................... 3-11
soil stiffness matrix.................................................. 3-27
I System symmetry....................................................... 3-6
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