Isogeometric Analysis of Soil Plasticity

In this paper we present numerical simulations of soil plasticity using isogeometric analysis comparing the results to the solutions from conventional finite element method. Isogeometric analysis is a numerical method that uses nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) as basis functions instead of the Lagrangian polynomials often used in the finite element method. These functions have a higher-order of continuity, making it possible to represent complex geometries exactly. After a brief outline of the theory behind the isogeometric concept, we give a presentation of the constitutive equations, used to simulate the soil behavior in this work. The paper concludes with numerical examples in two- and three-dimensions, which assess the accuracy of isogeometric analysis for simulations of soil behavior. The numerical examples presented show, that for drained soils, the results from isogeometric analysis are overall in good agreement with the conventional finite element method in two- and three-dimensions. Thus isogeometric analysis is a good alternative to conventional finite element analysis for simulations of soil behavior.