Numerical analysis in geotechnical engineering: Case histories

Modern engineering is being continually developed to achieve a more economic and at the same time safe structure. The numerical analysis nowadays plays a very important role in the design procedure even during daily civil engineering works. The rapid development of the infrastructure in the Middle East specially in the last two decades makes the application of numerical analysis specially in geotechnical engineering a challenging task for the civil engineers. This paper presents some case histories to demonstrate the application of numerical analysis in conjunction with special geotechnical measurements to achieve a safe structure regarding the serviceability requirements as well as an economical design regarding the total cost. These case histories include: silo foundation, deep pit excavation, piled raft foundation and tunneling. A short description will be presented for each project with a comparison between measurements and numerical results. The possibilities, the advantages and the need of highly developed geotechnical numerical models will be discussed.