Analysis of rheological deformation of soil by means of finite element method

Abstract A linear time-dependent viscoelastic behavior of soil is analyzed by the finite element method (FEM), which has great advantage in obtaining an approximate numerical solution of deformation or stress of a continuous body under complex boundary conditions, as known nowadays worldwide. A rheological three-element model, which is easily handled and represents rationally the actual behavior of soil, is suggested to obtain the rheological constants and the constitutive equation of soil. As actual examples of soil behavior, a stress relaxation of a soil block and a time-dependent sinkage of a rigid wheel are calculated by FEM and are also compared with test results and theoretical values.