| Abstract |
Design and analysis in geotechnical engineering practice often relies on methods originally developed in 1970s, which do not include the
enhanced understanding of soil behaviour we now have after decades of research. From the last decades, industry became interested in
the economic benefits from the incorporation of state-of-the-art knowledge into the design process and has more widely adopted numerical
methods mainly based on the finite element method (FEM). However, the standard version of this method only allows modelling small
displacements and strains, limiting their application to the prediction of the failure triggering. Therefore, it does not include the post-failure
dynamics of the motion that control the expected damage. The role of geomechanics capable of handling the whole range of strains and
displacement is paramount if solid advances in prediction, mitigation and protection are to be made. The available reliable and consistent
numerical tools are actually restricted to researchers with advanced knowledge in programming. Make Up Anura3D is intended to provide
a numerical tool for the industry suitable to deal with dynamic soil-water-structure interaction problems. The current Anura3D software,
developed by the MPM Anura3D research Community, constituted by people from European and American universities and research
centres, is a numerical tool that fits the achievement for this objective. It shows several advantages: (1) the code, based on the material
point method (MPM), allows to model dynamic geotechnical problems involving large strains; (2) it is a continuum method and well-known
constitutive models can be used; (3) it is similar to FEM and incorporates methodologies that are well known by the users from industry; (4)
it is an open-source code validated with reference benchmarks and documented with manuals and video tutorials available in YouTube
Anura3D channel. The applicability of Anura3D to civil and environmental problems is wide: pile foundations, tunnelling and cavity failures,
strutted excavation, foundations, off-shore structures, rigid and flexible earth support structures, earthquake-induced liquefaction, land
subsidence and sinkholes (potentially present in karst landscape), among others. However, it is still not easily accessible to users external
to the academic community since it was developed as research-oriented code which does not have a user-friendly interface. Moreover, the
computational efficiency is limited, making it difficult to run simulations necessary in the engineering practice with workstations.
Engineering companies have expressed their interest in a software able to deal with large displacements. Proof of this is the advisory
works of the applicant group to private companies in which the current version of this code is used. Make Up Anura3D will contribute to
enhancing it and to perform all the necessary activities to reduce the distance between recently developed tools in research and its use in
the industry. The proposal not only includes the activities necessary to reach a numerically efficient and user-friendly code, but it also aims
to transfer the code to practitioners. This objective will be carried out through courses addressed to the companies and the training of
young engineers in universities, future engineers, involved in the Anura3D MPM community. |
