Numerical characteristics of a simple finite element formulation for consolidation analysis

The spatial oscillation of values in the consolidation analysis when using small time increments has been a common problem for most existing methods. In this paper, the numerical characteristics of a simple finite element formulation for I-D consolidation analysis recently proposed by the authors have been examined in detail. This paper proves that the commonly encountered phenomenon of spatial oscillation due to small time increments does not occur in the simple finite element formulation. The criterion of minimum time step used in most existing methods can be eliminated at least for linear situations by using the simple formulation proposed by the authors. Thus, the consolidation analysis can be carried easily for many situations, such as the one involving a relatively impermeable clay layer sandwiched between sandy layers.