Efficient and realistic 3-D Boundary Element simulations of underground construction using isogeometric analysis

TL;DR

This paper presents an advanced boundary element method incorporating isogeometric analysis for efficient, accurate, and user-friendly simulation of underground excavations and tunnelling in geomechanics.

Contribution

It introduces isogeometric concepts into BEM, reducing user effort and enabling realistic modeling of complex underground geometries without mesh generation.

Findings

Isogeometric BEM reduces modeling effort and complexity.

The method accurately simulates heterogeneous and inelastic ground conditions.

Results compare favorably with analytical solutions and other numerical methods.

Abstract

The paper outlines some recent developments of the boundary element method (BEM) that makes it more user friendly and suitable for a realistic simulation in geomechanics, especially for underground excavations and tunnelling. The innovations refer to the introduction of isogeometric concepts, elasto-plastic analysis and the simulation of ground support. The introduction of isogeometric concepts for the description of the excavation boundaries results in less user and analysis effort, since complex geometries can be modelled with few parameters and degrees of freedom. No mesh generation is necessary. In order to consider heterogeneous and inelastic ground conditions a domain discretisation is used but the use of isogeometric methods results in a minimum of user effort. Efficient methods are also presented for modelling rock bolts. A comparison of results of test examples with other numerical methods and analytical solutions confirm the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed implementation. A practical example with a complex geometry is presented.