Free surface seepage analysis based on the element-free method

Element-free method (EFM) for seepage analysis with a tree surface presented in The paper is based on the moving least square method which needs only the information at nodes. It avoids troublesome modifications of the mesh as in the finite element method. Being irrelative to the nodes, the mesh tor quadrature is fixed throughout the iterations in determining the free surface. And the nodes can be easily added, moved or deleted in the iterations. Steady seepage and transient seepage in a uniform earth dam were analyzed in the paper. The examples show that the proposed method gives satisfactory results. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.