Simulation of multistage excavation based on a 3D spectral-element method

We implement a 3D spectral-element method for multistage excavation problems. To simulate excavation in elastoplastic soils, we employ a Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion using an initial strain method. We parallelize the software based on non-overlapping domain decomposition using MPI. We verify the uniqueness principle for multistage excavation in linear elastic materials. We validate our serial and parallel programs, and illustrate several examples of multistage excavation in elastoplastic materials. Finally, we apply our software to a model of the Pyhäsalmi ore mine in Finland. Strong-scaling performance tests involving multistage excavation show that the parallel program performs reasonably well for large-scale problems.

► We implement a 3D spectral-element method for multistage excavation problems.
► Software uses a Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion for elastoplastic materials.
► Software is parallelized based on non-overlapping domain decomposition using MPI.
► We illustrate several examples including a model of the Pyhäsalmi mine in Finland.
► The parallel program performs reasonably well for large-scale problems.