Numerical methods, especially the finite element method, are widely used in geotechnical engineering to analyze a large range of boundary value problems. The outputs from numerical methods are often overwhelming and one has to wade through a large body of numbers to get the desired results. Software technology is now available to animate the results of numerical methods to provide visual outputs. These visual outputs help to improve our interpretation and evaluation of numerical analyses. Significant progress in visualization has been made in commercially available programs such as ABAQUS. However, progress in the area of geotechnical education has been rather slow. The purpose of this paper is to present visualization techniques to help students understand fundamental concepts in geotechnical analysis. In this paper, a multimedia interactive and animated teaching module on the basic concepts of one-dimensional consolidation of soils using a finite difference scheme is presented. Key learning objectives are described and then self-paced interactions are developed to meet these objectives.
One-dimensional Consolidation Concepts
Conventional Approach An essential concept in geotechnical engineering is the process of soil consolidation. The concept is conventionally explained in textbooks using a simple mechanical system consisting of a water container with a controlled opening, a spring and a load cap (Figure 1). The spring is intended to represent the soil solids and the water within the spring represents the pore water in a saturated soil medium. The control opening often has a pressure gauge to illustrate the excess