Lecture 1: Analysis Planning commentary

This first lecture in the COGAN course on setting up a geotechnical numerical model covers the
important first stage of Analysis Planning. Theres a lot to consider before you even open your
analysis program. Well cover the decision on whether you need to use numerical analysis at all,
followed by defining the aims of your model, gathering all the information you need, getting the
right ground information in the site investigation, selection of the appropriate analysis software and
how all this interfaces with the overall design process.

Of course, the first question you should ask yourself is do I really need to use numerical analysis for a
particular geotechnical problem? It usually takes longer and is more expensive than conventional
methods of design so you need to able to justify the additional time and expense. This is usually
possible when greater economy in the design overall might be gained by using more advanced
numerical analysis methods, or when the conventional methods simply cant perform the analysis.
For example, when there is complex ground behaviour to consider (such as non-linear stiffness or
anisotropy), in complex cases of soil-structure interaction, when you need to consider time as well as
stress-strain effects (such as with creep or consolidation), or when you are taking an observational
approach to the design.

First of all, it is very important to define what the numerical analysis will be used for. What outputs
will you need? This is so that all the decisions during the analysis planning process will be made in
order to achieve these aims. You need to document them clearly so that they are readily available
throughout the project to refer to by all members of the project team. It is also important to agree
these aims with everyone who may potentially use the outputs of the analysis. After all your hard
work, you dont want someone at end to say Oh, I thought your analysis was going to predict this
and then disappoint them.

In addition to gathering information about the ground conditions, which well cover in the next slide,
theres a lot of information to gather about a project from different sources before you can make
decisions about how the analysis will be performed in order to meet the aims of the analysis.

Every project is different of course, but the information you need to gather includes historical
information on previous activities on the site since the stress history of the ground has a significant
effect on ground behaviour and in order to simulate the stress path and current stress state
correctly, you may need to simulate historical activities on the site. A lot of this sort of information is
often collected during the site investigation.

If the site has existing structures or infrastructure to be modified or demolished, you will need the
details of and loadings on existing geotechnical structures such as foundations and retaining walls.
You will probably need this information for buildings adjacent to the site too. In order to estimate
the allowable distortion of existing structures and infrastructure, you will need a lot more
information about their structure, architectural finishes and the current condition of these assets.

You will also, of course, need details of the proposed structures and infrastructure which will come
from other members of the design team. Dont forget that you will also need any information
regarding proposed construction methods and the anticipated programme. Often this wont be
available until a later stage and you may need to judge for yourself or discuss likely options with
experts in the field.

Since were going to prepare a geotechnical numerical model, it is clearly very important to gather
sufficient information about the ground in order to simulate ground conditions sufficiently
accurately. This is an extensive subject and the whole process of obtaining ground parameters is
covered in detail in the NAFEMS guidebook entitled Obtaining Parameters for Geotechnical
Analysis. In this slide well just cover very briefly what you need to think about when planning the
site investigation. Ideally it will be performed in at least two phases because you need to know
whats down there first before you start planning the parameter testing that you need to obtain the
input parameters for your constitutive models. In the first phase you would characterise the ground
that you encounter and form a ground model based on interpretations of the available information.
This is an extensive field in itself is covered in the e-learning courses offered at the Groundmodels
website.

Once the ground model is formed, you can begin to think about how you will model the ground and
about the input parameters you will need in the next phase of the site investigation which is the
parameter testing, either in situ, in the laboratory, or both. These will be the parameters needed to
achieve the aims of the analysis you defined earlier. You will then need to interpret the test results
in the light of all the information gained from the site investigation and derive the parameters.

If youre lucky, youll have a choice of numerical analysis software to use. Some will be better suited
to meet the aims of your analysis than others. So, choose carefully. Whichever one you use, it is
important to know it well and to know its strengths and weaknesses to help avoid errors. You should
verify that the software works properly on your computer. Sometimes software can behave
unexpectedly on certain computers and operating systems.

Now, interfacing well your geotechnical numerical analysis work with the wider design process is a
vital task that will be required throughout the analysis work and probably long after it is completed.
So here are a few things you need to consider when planning how to perform your analysis work so
that everyone in the design team thinks that youre the best.

You need to ensure that your outputs will be presented in a form that meets the needs of other
designers and decision makers who will use your results. So you should ask them at the planning
stage exactly what they need.

The assumptions you decide to make and the methods you choose to use should be clearly
explained to the future users of your outputs, before you go ahead and complete the analysis, in
case something is wrong.

You need to understand the wider technical, economic, environmental and social issues on the
project in order to explain the wider implications of your outputs and your recommendations to the
rest of the project team more clearly. You will gain this through your initial information gathering
and then by regular communication with members of the project team. This will also help you to
keep updated on design changes so that your analysis work does not become obsolete before it is
finished.
Another thing to consider at the planning stage is whether your analysis outputs will be compared
with any site monitoring, either for validation purposes or because an observational approach is
being taken in the design. In that case you will need to think about possible monitoring methods and
then ensure that your analysis will be able to produce appropriate outputs.