This lesson describes the construction of an excavation pit in soft clay and sand layers. The pit is a relatively small excavation of 12 by 20 m, excavated to a depth of 6.5 m below the surface. Struts, walings and ground anchors are used to prevent the pit to collapse. After the full excavation, an additional surface load is added on one side of the pit.

The attached (zipped) *.p3dlog file contains all the commands to generate the models up to calculation (without point for curves selection). With a PLAXIS VIP licence you can use the commands runner to open the *.p3dlog file and to execute all commands in one go. Without a VIP licence, you can open the *.p3dlog file with any text editor, like Notepad, and then execute the commands via the command line command by command.

The post PLAXIS 3D Tutorial 02: Excavation in sand appeared first on Plaxis.

In this chapter a first application of PLAXIS 3D is considered, namely the settlement of a foundation in clay. This is the first step in becoming familiar with the practical use of the program.
The general procedures for the creation of a geometry, the generation of a finite element mesh, the execution of a finite element calculation and the evaluation of the output results are described here in detail. The information provided in this chapter will be utilised in the following lessons. Therefore, it is important to complete this first lesson before attempting any further tutorial examples.

The attached (zipped) *.p3dlog files contain all the commands to generate the models up to calculation (without point for curves selection). With a PLAXIS VIP licence you can use the commands runner to open the *.p3dlog file and to execute all commands in one go. Without a VIP licence, you can open the *.p3dlog file with any text editor, like Notepad, and then execute the commands via the command line command by command.

The post PLAXIS 3D Tutorial 01: Foundation in overconsolidated clay appeared first on Plaxis.

New and improved features PLAXIS 3D 2018.00

• new command importcrossection and importtrajectory to import polycurves directly into tunnels
• support for changing the selection in Input through the scripting layer
• improved performance when making charts in Output
• improved performance for huge models
• added cyclic triaxial test in SoilTest
• support for user-defined soil models in Parameter optimization
• added a 'Loads' object to structures and soil ResultType objects in Output making previous, target and current load values queryable
• loads are available for structure and soil nodes in the curve manager in Output
• improved feedback in tunnel designer for invalid geometry
• improved definition of polycurves, through additional parameters
• added FFT amplitude curve generation
• added Arias intensity curve generation and Arias duration calculation
• added extreme values display on graphs and as a separate table
• improved tabulate and filter commands, specifically for staged features, returning information on staged features in one or more phases
• support for modeling tunnel and planar contraction of plates and geogrids
• support for dynamics calculation together with updated mesh
• support for moving loads
• added a 'RigidBody' object to ResultType objects in Output making results for rigid bodies available in scripting
• it is now possible to select a whole rigid body as a curve point and create curves from the rigid body results
• support import of IFC files
• added a splitting tool to tunnel designer, for splitting tunnel cross-sections into several parts, and creating a separate tunnel for each part
• enhanced safety phases
• many robustness improvements in the automatic centerline detection for the structural forces in volume piles tool
• added a new command 'importpointcloud' to import points from a file and generate an editable NURBS surface
• improved rock bolts definition in tunnel designer, including functionality to define umbrella arches
• extra control over the EMR parameters during meshing
• support scaling and additional plots for input accelerograms
• added findstagedfeature command to get parents of a staged feature
• possibility to show torsion results in beams and embedded beams in Output
• view liquefaction (history) points in Output
• added commands for all cross section tools
• improved performance of PSA and relative displacement charts
• access to server version and name using Python scripting
• added get_equivalent command in scripting to find equivalent  object in certain project mode or different environment (e.g., Input and Output)
• improved Output performance in loading projects and manipulating the model explorer
• added two new commands 'zoom' and 'view' to control how themesh is viewed in Output
• added UDCAM-S and concrete material models
• support water level import
• add the option to run Jupyter notebooks

In addition a large number of issues have been addressed.

For the latest information on known issues, and compatibility notes, please visit the Knowledge Base on the Plaxis website: https:/www.plaxis.com/support

CodeMeter firmware and drivers

The minimal required Codemeter firmware and driver version are, respectively, versions 1.18 and 6.60. The driver version provided with PLAXIS 3D 2018 is 6.60. Plaxis recommends to always use the latest versions.

The post PLAXIS 3D 2018 appeared first on Plaxis.

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The Concrete model was initially developed as a user defined soil model (called Shotcrete model) in cooperation with Graz University of Technology. The model allows users to take into account time dependent strength and stiffness of concrete, strain hardening/ softening in compression and tension as well as creep and shrinkage. Most of the input parameters for the shotcrete model can be derived from standard uniaxial tension and compression tests. While the model was mainly developed to model the behaviour of shotcrete, it has also proven useful in applications related to soil improvements, for example jet grout columns.

Since the release of PLAXIS 2D 2018 and PLAXIS 3D 2018 the is now part of the standard material library for PLAXIS VIP subscribers. More information is found in the Material Models manuals.

Model history

Update October 2018

Available as standard material model since PLAXIS 3D 2018.00 for users with PLAXIS VIP

Update March 2018 

Available as standard material model since PLAXIS 2D 2018.00 for users with PLAXIS VIP

Update August 2017

The post Concrete model appeared first on Plaxis.

The PLAXIS Viewers are standalone programs and offer you and your clients the ability to view calculated PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D projects without the need of a licence.

The PLAXIS Viewer is part of your PLAXIS installation starting PLAXIS 2D 2016 and PLAXIS 3D AE.02. You will find the newest version of the PLAXIS Viewer in your installation directory (when you have installed the software). The Viewer works as a standalone application, so it can be copied to other locations or sent to your clients.

The PLAXIS Viewer can also be obtained by selecting the appropriate version and downloading it via these links below:

The post Plaxis Viewer – standalone program to view results appeared first on Plaxis.

We are working on a solution for this for the next update.

In PLAXIS 2D 2018.00, please do not use the Concrete model. Alternatively, using the Shotcrete user-defined soil model version will give the correct behaviour.

Please contact our sales team if you want to obtain this user-defined soil model.

The post Concrete model in 2D 2018.00 swaps horizontal stresses each step appeared first on Plaxis.

This movie shows how to create a model by using the new point cloud import and IFC import tools, available since PLAXIS 3D 2018. A point cloud can now also be imported in the Flow conditions mode as a water level.

The post Creating a model with IFC and point cloud import appeared first on Plaxis.

In this simplified model, moving loads will be applied to simulate a train passing over rail track on an embankment. Moving loads are available since PLAXIS 3D 2018 for users of the Dynamics module.

The post How to model moving loads for Dynamic calculations appeared first on Plaxis.

PLAXIS MoDeTo implements the PISA design method in a daily engineering application, for the design of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines, including large diameter monopiles.

The PISA project was a research study (2013-2016) on the development of new design procedures for monopile foundations for offshore wind turbine applications. The project consisted of field testing, numerical modelling and design model development. The research was conducted by an Academic Work Group drawn from the University of Oxford, Imperial College London and University College Dublin and was conducted in collaboration with a range of project partners. One outcome of this study is a one dimensional (1D) design model, based on the use of Timoshenko beam theory, that overcomes certain limitations of existing methods.

The broad scope of the PISA joint industry project are summarised in recent publications:

General description and methodology

• Byrne, B.W. et al. (2015). New design methods for large diameter piles under lateral loading for offshore wind applications. Proc. 3rd International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, Oslo, Norway;
• Zdravkovic, L. et al. (2015). Numerical modelling of large diameter piles under lateral loading for offshore wind applications. Proc. 3rd International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, Oslo, Norway.

Field tests

• Byrne, B.W. et al. (2015). Field testing of large diameter piles under lateral loading for offshore wind applications. Proc. 15th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Edinburgh, UK.;
• Beuckelaers, W.J.A.P. et al. (2017). Data analysis for the PISA project. Poster. 8th International Conference for Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, London, UK.

Results (clay)

• Byrne, B.W. et al. (2017). PISA: New Design Methods for Offshore Wind Turbine Monopiles. 8th International Conference for Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, London, UK.;
• Byrne, B.W. et al. (2018). PISA Design Model for Monopiles for Offshore Wind Turbines: Application to a Stiff Glacial Clay Till

Results (sand)

• Burd, H.J. et al. (2017). Design aspects for monopile foundations. Proc. TC 209 workshop on foundation design for offshore wind structures, 19th ICSMGE, Seoul, South Korea;
• Burd, H.J. et al. (2018). PISA Design Model for Monopiles for Offshore Wind Turbines: Application to a Dense Marine Sand

The post Theoretical background of PLAXIS MoDeTo: The PISA project appeared first on Plaxis.

How to have the latest PLAXIS 2D version and PLAXIS 2D AE simultaneously installed in your computer for converting older files

The procedure of converting projects created with PLAXIS 2D Classic, PLAXS 2D 2012 or an earlier version (with extension .P2D) can only be done with PLAXIS 2D AE. Since it is inconvenient to constantly switch between installed versions, you may use this tip to have both versions (2D AE and latest 2D) are available in your system:

1. Request the PLAXIS 2D AE.02 installation via sales@plaxis.com
2. After receiving the installer, double-click to launch the installation process and use the default install directory (C:\Program files (x86)\Plaxis\Plaxis 2D)
3. The shortcuts and  file extension association (e.g. when double clicking a file) will always refer to the last installed version, which will now be PLAXIS 2D AE, if you do not want that:
   1. Re-install the latest version of PLAXIS 2D to the default install directory (C:\Program files\Plaxis\Plaxis 2D)
   2. After reinstallation of the recent PLAXIS 2D version, 2D AE will then need to be launched from it's installation folder (C:\Program files (x86)\Plaxis\Plaxis 2D)

Notes

• In order to use a PLAXIS 2D version, you must have access to the appropriate licence;
• For converting even older files with the extension *.plx, you can use the 2D Classic version, which can be found in the subfolder called classic, located inside the 2D AE program folder. See here for more details.

The post Install latest 2D version and 2D AE for converting older files appeared first on Plaxis.

Improved features and fixed issues PLAXIS 2D 2018.01

New features

• Hydraulic gradient results in Output

Fixed issues

A large number of issues have been addressed, including:

• various issues related to the tabulate command
• a crash in the regenerate command occurred for complex tunnel geometries
• various issues related to the user experience in the material database
• various issues related to the parameters in Soil Test
• an issue regarding visualization of bending moments
• various issues in the cyclic accumulation tool
• various issues in the concrete model
• an issue in the UBC3D-PLM model regarding automatic time stepping
• added displacement and velocity components to Fourier spectrum window in Output
• an issue regarding visualization of FE-anchors in Output
• an issue regarding visualization of connections in Input
• crashes in Report Generator
• crashes in printing of material properties in Output
• a crash while viewing interface plastic points
• a regression regarding post-calc structural results in Curves
• various issues regarding scale factor window in Output
• a crash in the hint box in Output for updated mesh
• wrong total stresses for Undrained C and Non Porous in K0 procedure
• removed limitation for dynamics calculations for big models (>25k elements)

New and improved features PLAXIS 2D 2018.00

•  export geometry to step and dxf
• import step and dxf files
• added functionality in tunnel designer to create subsection curves from existing curve endpoints in the visualization of the
  tunnel cross-section
• added UBC3D-PLM soil model
• added preconsolidation parameters per soil layer, to allow specifying spatial variation of pre-overburden pressure
• cross-sections made in Output now respond to visibility changes done in the model explorer
• new command importcrossection to import polycurves directly into tunnels
• support for changing the selection in Input through the scripting layer
• support for unlimited number of points for curves in Output
• improved performance when making charts in Output
• added UDCAM-S material model
• added Concrete material model
• added cyclic triaxial test in SoilTest
• support for user-defined soil models in Parameter optimization
• added a 'Loads' object to structures and soil ResultType objects in Output making previous, target and current load values queryable
• loads are available for structure and soil nodes in the curve manager in Output
• improved feedback in tunnel designer for invalid geometry
• improved definition of polycurves, through additional parameters
• added FFT amplitude curve generation
• added Arias intensity curve generation and Arias duration calculation
• added extreme values display on graphs and as a separate table
• improved tabulate and filter commands, specifically for staged features, returning information on staged features in one or more phases
• support for modeling tunnel and planar contraction of plates and geogrids
• support of partial deconfinement of a tunnel
• support for dynamics calculation together with updated mesh
• support for dynamics calculation together with consolidation
• new command zoom for controlling the position and zoom level for plots in Output

For the latest information on known issues, and compatibility notes, please visit the Knowledge Base on the Plaxis website: https:/www.plaxis.com/support

CodeMeter firmware and drivers

The minimal required Codemeter firmware and driver version are, respectively, versions 1.18 and 6.00. The driver version provided with PLAXIS 2D 2018 is 6.40. Plaxis recommends to always use the latest versions.

The post PLAXIS 2D 2018.01 appeared first on Plaxis.

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PLAXIS MoDeTo 1.0.0

The newly-developed PLAXIS MoDeTo constitutes the most innovative solution for the design of laterally-loaded monopile foundations. PLAXIS MoDeTo transfers the results of the PISA joint industry research project to daily engineering practice, extending the conventional design approach to accurately model the response of large diameter monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines.

Use PLAXIS MoDeTo either as a stand-alone application when defining the soil reaction curves (rule-based design) or in connection with PLAXIS 3D to extract them numerically from geotechnical 3D models (numerical-based design).

Features

• Optimized design method for monopile foundations
• Full implementation of the PISA Method, as described in the PISA Final Report of May 2016
• Robust 1D kernel with highly efficient calculation times
• Use of Timoshenko beam theory ensures accurate results even for large diameter monopiles
• Non-linear soil reaction curves for lateral loading, rotation, base shear and base rotation
• Realistic assessment of displacements and structural forces
• Visualization and export of soil reaction curves
• Seamless integration with PLAXIS 3D (numerical-based design)

For the latest information on known issues, and compatibility notes, please visit the Knowledge Base on the Plaxis website: https:/www.plaxis.com/support

Integration with PLAXIS 3D (numerical-based design)

The connection between PLAXIS MoDeTo and PLAXIS 3D requires both licenses to be on the same CodeMeter key and to have active PLAXIS VIP subscriptions. PLAXIS MoDeTo is developed and tested for compatibility with PLAXIS 3D 2018.00 or newer. Plaxis recommends to always use the latest versions.

CodeMeter firmware and drivers

The minimal required Codemeter firmware and driver version are, respectively, versions 1.18 and 6.60. The driver version provided with PLAXIS MoDeTo 1.0.0 is 6.60. Plaxis recommends to always use the latest versions.

The post PLAXIS MoDeTo appeared first on Plaxis.

PLAXIS Connect is automatically installed with the PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D software and is used for updating your CodeMeter licence, installing Codemeter drivers and keeping the PLAXIS Connect application up-to-date. Through the News tab it will warn you when software updates become available and when new articles on the Knowledge Base are published.

Note that since December 2018, the PLAXIS 2D and 3D applications can no longer be installed via the Applications tab in PLAXIS Connect, please visit the software updates page for the PLAXIS software installers.

The post PLAXIS Connect appeared first on Plaxis.

Currently, there is no general solution available for all cases yet.
For some cases, we made an internal version available to overcome this issue.

If you encounter this issue, please send your project to Plaxis Support via email so we can check this or try to repair it. Please send it to support@plaxis.com

Manual packaging to send the data

The most convenient method to send all required data is to use the Pack Project from the File menu. But that is not possible in this case. So, in order to send a complete PLAXIS 3D Plaxis data file package to the support department, please include both the *.p3d-file and the full *.p3dat-folder in a compressed format ( 7Zip or plain WinZip).

For a full project, we need all this data in the mentioned folder to have a complete project geometry, material definitions and stage information.

We can receive up to 15 MB as an attachment. For larger files, please use this web service to upload the data: https://plaxis.wetransfer.com/?to=support@plaxis.com

The post PLAXIS 3D 2018 may not always properly load a model after intersection issues appeared first on Plaxis.

It is possible for projects to have various loads being deactivated in a calculation phase, effectively by setting the load value to zero. When checking PLAXIS Output results, it can happen that the visualization of the load is still visible (blue arrows).

In Plaxis calculations, when it comes to a staged construction loading type, the activation of all loads and self-weight of soils, structures are considered to be an out-of-balance force. In order to solve this out-of-balance, the calculation will use a linear relationship with the ΣM_stage multiplier to activate these new loads: once ΣM_stage reaches one [1], the full weight and loads are active in the model.

The same logic is being followed in the case when a load is being deactivated, i.e. the load will be deactivated once ΣM_stage reaches one [1].

When checking the calculation results of a phase that failed or any of the intermediate steps, the load visualization may still be visible as the load is not yet fully deactivated, as ΣM_stage is not yet equal to one (1).

In the example below, the line load is being deactivated for the current phase (Phase_2).
For Phase_1 the calculation finished with ΣM_stage equal to one, however, for Phase_2 it is stopped while the ΣM_stage is equal to 0.80. This means that the line load is still not fully deactivated in this step.

To check the current applied value of the load, you can check this under Project>Load information and search for the load values with the subscript “a”, which stands for “applied”, e.g. q_a,y.

The post Deactivated loads are still visible in PLAXIS Output appeared first on Plaxis.

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Rock, especially rock salt, exhibits time-dependent behaviour. Creep of rock and rock salt is related to various applications in civil engineering, the mining industry or petroleum engineering, such as energy storages, wellbore stability in oil and gas extraction, radioactive waste facilities design, etc. (Cornet, Dabrowski & Schmida, 2018).

For  instance, drilling a deep borehole (around 5000m of depth) for oil extraction could face a serious instability problem when going through a creeping salt layer (see Dusseault, Maury, Sanfilippo & Santarelli (2004)). Most of the underground applications are concerned with large time scales (tens to thousands of years or even longer) and thermal effects at great depth (hundreds to thousands of meters of depth). The Norton power creep law (Norton, 1929) is widely used for describing the steady state creep behaviour, which is relevant for those large time scales.

In this context, an enriched version of the Norton law, the Norton-based Double Power Creep (N2PC) model for Salt Rock, including temperature effects, was implemented in PLAXIS software. Although the model is particularly adapted for creep of rock salt, it can be used also for other types of rock which exhibit similar creep behaviour.

In order to obtain the model, send your request for the N2PC-Salt model using this contact form. Support on the use of the N2PC-Salt model is only provided for this DLL under the conditions of the PLAXIS VIP support service and Article 10 of the End-User Licence Agreement. Note that the temperature dependency part of the model requires the PLAXIS 2D Thermal module.

The post UDSM: N2PC-Salt appeared first on Plaxis.

New and improved features PLAXIS 2D 2019.00

• Input has improved the way soil layers are modeled. As an addition to the "Modify Soil Layers" window, the soil stratigraphy is now also available in the model explorer under "Stratigraphy". The "Boreholes" group is also moved there.
• commandline in Output now needs explicit "ResultTypes." prefix when accessing resulttypes; also in scripting.
• support scaling and additional plots for input accelerograms
• view liquefaction (history) points in Output
• improved performance of PSA and relative displacement charts
• access to server version and name using Python scripting
• added findstagedfeature command to get parents of a staged feature
• improved rock bolts definition in tunnel designer
• added get_equivalent command in scripting to find equivalent object in certain project mode or different environment (e.g., Input and Output)
• improved Output performance in loading projects and manipulating the model explorer
• add the option to run Jupyter notebooks
• Output displays the total discharge in interfaces
• possibility to add fieldstress per cluster
• Output now supports arbitrary cross section curves
• manual input of interface stiffness through Kn/Ks option
• added option 'Force fully drained behaviour newly activated clusters' for consolidation and fully coupled flow
• one dimensional site response analysis
• added pressuremeter test in Soil Test (only for HS model)

In addition a large number of issues have been addressed.

For the latest information on known issues, and compatibility notes, please visit the Knowledge Base on the Plaxis website: https:/www.plaxis.com/support

CodeMeter firmware and drivers

The minimal required Codemeter firmware and driver version are, respectively, versions 1.18 and 6.60. The driver version provided with PLAXIS 2D 2019 is 6.60. Plaxis recommends to always use the latest versions.

The post PLAXIS 2D 2019.00 appeared first on Plaxis.