Compared to the actual soil, the element mesh has a limited extent. In order to avoid a significant falsifying influence from the edges of the mesh, they must have a sufficient distance to the modeled structure.
The following figure provides guideline values for the dimensions of the floor section to be considered, based on Refer [1 ].
Additional notes
- The size of the calculation section should be varied in the preliminary calculations and the influence on the results should be examined. If the results change only slightly at the relevant locations when increasing the edge distances, the calculation section can be regarded as sufficiently large.
- It may happen that the dimensions of the calculation section result from the existing soil profile, for example due to embedded highly deformable soil layers.
- When selecting ever deeper calculation sections, make sure that the corresponding material properties are taken into account, as the stiffness of the soil usually increases significantly with the depth. If this were not taken into account when selecting the material laws and material parameters, unrealistically large displacements (e.g. settlement of foundations) may occur. Refer [1 ]