Analysis of factors influencing the solution of the consolidation problem by using an element-free Galerkin method

The meshless method is new type numerical method developed in recent years. There are no fewer than 20 variations published to-date, and some of them were successfully applied to solve Biot's consolidation problem. In the present paper, the system equations for the plain-strain consolidation problem using an element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) are presented on the basis of enforcing essential boundary conditions with a penalty method. Next, a large number of calculations and analyses of the displacement and excess pore-water pressure for nodes are carried out. It is shown that the accuracy of the calculations is influenced by many factors including the distribution mode of nodes, the shape and size of the domain of influence of nodes, the numerical integration scheme, and the adopted penalty factor. Some useful conclusions are drawn. The findings can be advantageous to improve the computational capability and accuracy of numerical solutions to the Biot's consolidation problem with EFGM.