Hello,
I am attempting to model flow coming out of a probe laterally, which is driven underground. The model itself doesn't need to be during the driving phase, just how the flow leaves the flow laterally and how/ where it flows into the adjacent soil. A comparison would be modeling a borehole infiltration test, however, the flow would be lateral instead of vertical. I was also wondering what the best way to model this test was, I couldn't find any examples.
If anyone has some ideas on the best way to model these two scenarios in PLAXIS 2D, please let me know!
Best
Dear Alex,
The way to introduce flow of water to the system is by using a groundwater flow boundary condition (next to drains and wells), in Structures mode.
Then, you can choose the relevant option on the Behaviour that fits your case.
Note that in PLAXIS the groundwater flow is affected by the permeabilities, which cover both the horizontal and the vertical direction. If you want to "force" only a horizontal direction you can directly change the values in the material data set.
Thank you that is very helpful! If I wanted to have holes in the sides of borehole walls, to allow for horizontal flow, would you say the best way of doing that would be to leave a gap between two plates in the software?
In general, all structural elements by default are considered impermeable.
The way to control the permeability via plates is using interfaces. Please check the following article about the available settings:https://communities.bentley.com/products/geotech-analysis/w/plaxis-soilvision-wiki/45954/permeability-in-interfaces
The above article contains links for further reading, too.
If, in reality, the borehole walls have gaps in between, you could do the same with PLAXIS, however, be aware that this might cause a local failure which in reality will not cause the world to "stop", while a finite element calculation might fail.
Therefore, I would probably choose to assign different interfaces in the area where you need to allow for horizontal flow, instead.