Geosynthetic tubes made of geotextiles and geomembranes have been applied since the 1960s for coastal protection, dike’s construction, flooding control and dewatering materials with high water content. Several analytical methods were developed to simulate the behavior of these structures during the filling and dewatering processes. Also, numerical modelling has been carried out to represent and to predict the behavior of geosynthetic tubes. However, it is still necessary to develop simulations that are representative of the existing field conditions. In this paper, an analysis and a critical evaluation of existing numerical modellings were performed, considering the main aspects related to the filling process of geotextile tubes, with the goal of giving directions to future research. Results from the existing numerical models using finite element programs such as ABAQUS, FLAC, Plaxis and Phase 2 indicate their capacity to simulate the geosynthetic tube behavior, despite the limitations and premises presented.
Menu