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Abstract
An automatic time increment selection scheme for numerical analysis of long-term response of geomaterials is presented. The scheme is simple, rational and stable. Governed by a simple empirical expression, it can adaptively adjust the time increments depending on the strain rate-dependent temporal history of the material response. The proposed expression requires only a few parameters whose selection is a trivial task since they have a small effect on accuracy but have a significant effect on computational efficiency. This generalization has been made possible because of the enforcement of certain predefined control criteria to avoid extreme conditions. If any of the control criteria is satisfied, the computation is restarted by going a few time steps back to ensure the smoothness of the computed responses and time increments are again continuously adjusted through the governing equation provided. Performance of the automatic time increment selection scheme is investigated through finite element analyses of the long-term consolidation response of clay under different geotechnical profiles and loading conditions. Both elastic and elasto-viscoplastic constitutive relations are considered, including the consideration of the destructuration effects of geomaterials. Numerical results show that the performance of the automatic time increment selection scheme is reasonably excellent. While offering reasonable accuracy of the numerical solution, it can ensure temporal stability at optimal computational efficiency. In addition to the Euler implicit method, the automatic time increment selection scheme also performs well even when the explicit fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is employed for the integration of time derivatives.