Failure mechanisms in coupled poro-plastic medium
The presence of the pore fluid strongly influences the reponse of the soil subjected to external loading and in many cases increases the risk of final failure. In this paper, we propose the use of a discrete beam lattice model with the aim to investigate the coupling effects of the solid and fluid phase on the response and failure mechanisms in the saturated soil. The discrete cohesive link lattice model used in this paper, is based on inelastic Timoshenko beam finite elements with enhanced kinematics in axial and transverse direction. The coupling equations for the soil-pore fluid interaction are derived from Terzaghi\'s principle of effective stresses, Biot\'s porous media theory and Darcy\'s law for fluid flow through porous media. The application of the model in soil mechanics is illustrated through several numerical simulations.