Abstract
The smoothed particle hydrodynamics SPH method, which is based on the mesh-free Lagrangian scheme, is commonly used to solve large deformation problems in geotechnical engineering. The method can be used to solve large deformation problems without distortion of the mesh. Moreover, it can handle the governing equations and constitutive models for geomaterials based on continuum mechanics. However, numerical inaccuracies are a problem with the conventional SPH method. In this paper, we reported an improved method, Symmetric SPH (SSPH). Validations of simulations of simple shear problems in elastic and elasto-plastic materials were carried out, and the SSPH method demonstrated significant improvements in numerical accuracy compared with the SPH method. Furthermore, excavation problems with loose to dense sand were analyzed to examine the applications of the SSPH method.
