Automatic Embankment Analysis: Equilibrium and Instability Conditions

Synopsis A remark by Maxwell to G. H. Darwin (1883) postulated the occurrence of many stress states in a body of sand, each state depending upon the manner in which final configuration of the body was obtained. This concept has been formalized (Goodman and Brown, 1963) and the restricted class of soluble boundary value problems are here extended by the use of the finite element method for plane elasticity and the solution of the resulting algebraic equations by digital computer. The difference between built-up and cut-down embankments is illustrated with reference to possible slip-lines. An automatic plot of these lines together with printout statements of a measure of safety for each line allow the potential failure surfaces in an embankment to be accurately described. The importance of the initial local state of stress in the earth's surface prior to construction of an embankment is graphically illustrated. Maxwell faisait remarquer a G. H. Darwin (1883) que de nombreuses conditions de contrainte se pro...