ABSTRACT
The finite element method and other methods of numerical analysis have provided geotechnical engineers with powerful tools for analysis and design, but it is unlikely that such numerical analyses will ever provide totally reliable predictive tools because of the difficulties involved in modelling both soil properties and the geometry of the field problems. The usefulness of linear elastic analyses is, however, generally restricted to those cases where the engineer is interested only in gaining an idea of the stress distribution and is not interested in the computed displacements. The combination of the hyperbolic model and the incremental finite element method with which it is normally used, does not allow for the complete modelling of anisotropy since properties are assumed to be isotropic, linear elastic on each load increment. The simple hyperbolic model uses the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and neglects the effect of the intermediate principal stress.
