A Meshless Method for Axisymmetric Problems in Continuously Nonhomogeneous Saturated Porous Media

A meshless method based on the local Petrov–Galerkin approach is proposed to analyze 3-d axisymmetric problems in porous functionally graded materials. Constitutive equations for porous materials possess a coupling between mechanical displacements for solid and fluid phases. The work is based on the u–u formulation and the incognita fields of the coupled analysis in focus are the solid skeleton displacements and the fluid displacements. Independent spatial discretization is considered for each phase of the model, rendering a more flexible and efficient methodology. Both displacements are approximated by the moving least-squares (MLS) scheme. The paper presents in the first time a general meshless method for the numerical analysis of axisymmetric problems in continuously nonhomogeneous saturated porous media. Numerical results are given for boreholes in continuously nonhomogeneous porous medium with prescribed misfit and exponential variation of material parameters in the excavation zone.