Numerical analysis for an interpretation of the pressuremeter test in granular soil

Abstract

The recent elasto-plastic pressuremeter theory of Monnet and Khlif (1994) for the granular soil had been used in several civil engineering constructions. The finite element method allows nowadays to check the validity of this theory. In the first part, we briefly present the interpretation of the pressuremeter test in granular soil and the theoretical expression of the limit pressure. In the second part, we present the analysis of the theoretical limit pressure compared with the result of the Mohr-Coulomb non-standard model used by the Plaxis finite element program. As the theory shows that the limit pressure depends on four parameters, we apply a variation of one of these parameters, the others remaining unchanged, and we study the resulting variation of the limit pressure. The theoretical evolution of the limit pressure as a function of each parameter shows a fine agreement with the numerical results