Validation of geotechnical finite element analysis
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Abstract
The use of the Finite Element Method for geotechnical analysis and design has become quite popular. It is often the younger generation of engineers who operate easy-to-use finite element programs and produce colourful results, whilst the responsible senior engineers find it difficult to validate the outcome. The NAFEMS Geotechnical Committee has concluded that there is a need for guidelines on validation of geotechnical finite element calculations. The first author is a member of this committee and the main author of a reference document on validation of numerical modelling in geotechnical engineering. This paper contains the highlights of the aforementioned document. After defining the term Validation, sources of discrepancies between a real project and its corresponding finite element model are described. In addition, the paper presents various methods to validate geotechnical finite element calculations. The paper ends with some conclusions and a list of references for further reading.