Intelligent finite element method in geotechnical engineering

In this paper a new approach is presented for constitutive modelling of soils in finite element analysis. The proposed approach provides a unified framework for modelling of complex materials using evolutionary polynomial regression-based constitutive model (EPRCM), integrated in finite element analysis. Evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR) is a data mining technique that generates a transparent and structured representation of the system being studied. The development and validation of the method will be presented followed by the application to a geotechnical problem. The results of the analyses will be compared with those obtained from standard finite element analyses using conventional constitutive models. It will be shown that the EPR-based constitutive models offer an effective and unified approach to constitutive modelling of materials with complex behaviour in finite element analysis of boundary value problems.