GeoStudio 2021 is now available.
This video summarizes the new features and improved functionality of GeoStudio, which includes a completely new version of SIGMA/W.
GeoStudio 2021 includes multiple improvements to three-dimensional capabilities.
The new plan section tool allows for the creation of sections while in plan view, with infinite and finite length lines.
Finite lines can be drawn to create a section through only a portion of the domain,
while infinite lines automatically cut through your entire model domain.
Lines can be constrained so they are perpendicular to existing features on the plan view
allowing for straight-forward creation of 2D cross-sections along defined features like a road cut or open pit face.
Importing features in BUILD3D have been expanded to include the ability to import IGES files.
AutoCAD models constructed with curves, surfaces, or solids, but not meshes,
can be imported directly into BUILD3D in the IGES format.
STL meshes are now imported as background geometry in BUILD3D.
This allows users to draw profiles and sweep lines on a construction plane
while simultaneously snapping to the background mesh.
These profiles and sweep lines are part of the BUILD3D feature tree.
The background mesh is not part of the feature tree and thus, it can be poor or invalid.
This approach provides a fast method to construct simplified, clean models
of overly complex, overly sampled, or poorly meshed 3D domains, for example from LIDAR scans or Civil3D meshed surfaces.
Lines can now be generated to precisely match the undulations of a curved surface.
These lines can be used as sweep paths to construct roadways, levees, or drainage canals,
for example, that match the surface topography.
Many improvements were made to the view features in BUILD3D
including the addition of a rotation cube with animation as the cube is rotated, and new potentiometric surfaces with elevation contours.
SLOPE/W now offers greater reinforcement options.
The Define Reinforcement dialogue was updated to offer additional vendor-specific products.
In addition to Maccaferri and Tensar, reinforcement vendors now include Huesker and TenCate.
This allows for easy definition of reinforcement parameters by selecting the reinforcement vendor from the Type dropdown menu
and the specific reinforcement product type from the Model dropdown.
Given these selections, the reinforcement parameters are automatically defined.
This functionality was developed in partnership with Huesker and Tencate to ensure accurate representation of their products.
In addition, properties of manufacturer reinforcements are now displayed in View Object Information and in reports.
Enhancements to the importing geometry functionality were completed
to allow for the conversion of closed loops from DXF and DWG files into regions in GeoStudio.
This is common for DXF files exported from Vulcan.
A completely reformulated version of SIGMA/W is available in GeoStudio 2021.
The SIGMA/W solver was upgraded to the GeoStudio Solver Engine that was already available in the GeoStudio flow products.
This solver has faster performance, better convergence, and multi-physics integration.
The new convergence schemes, combined with a new stress-update algorithm,
allow for the analysis of material non-linearity that was previously not possible.
In addition to the new solver, the SIGMA/W analysis types and material models were updated and expanded.
SIGMA/W now has two In Situ analysis methods:
Gravity Activation, which was previously available, and the K0 Procedure.
The K0 Procedure requires that all materials applied to the domain have a valid K0 value.
All material models now include a K0 Procedure tab
that allows for specification or calculation of the at-rest earth pressure coefficient.
The relationship used to calculate the at-rest earth pressure coefficient
depends on whether the soil model has a friction angle or over-consolidation ratio defined.
Thus, this method can model a range of stress histories
that can be used as a basis for conducting load-deformation or consolidation analyses.
The In Situ formulation now considers the volumetric water content function
for the calculation of effective stress in the unsaturated zone.
A number of improvements have been made to the load-deformation formulation in SIGMA/W
to ensure that the complex problems faced by geotechnical engineers in the civil and mining sectors
can be modelled with accuracy and simplicity.
SIGMA/W now calculates the change in pore-water pressure in load-deformation analyses.
This functionality assists with analyses where changes in pore water pressure cause complications during construction,
for example, in deep excavation projects.
A consolidation analysis could be used for this class of problem;
however, time constraints and the inability to parameterize the hydraulic properties
often make it necessary to use a load-deformation type of analysis instead.
In the new SIGMA/W, the initial and final pore-water pressure conditions are defined,
and the difference between these values is included as a stress boundary condition.
For convenience, the final pore-water pressure condition can be defined using a phreatic surface, spatial function,
or by using the results from a SEEP/W analysis.
SIGMA/W is now capable of analyzing submerged fill placement in load-deformation analyses,
by detecting the presence of ponding at the ground surface
and ensuring that the gravity activation procedure associated with region activation, uses the correct soil unit weight.
The SIGMA/W consolidation analysis formulation has been updated
to handle complex hydro-mechanical coupling in both saturated and unsaturated soils.
SIGMA/W is now capable of handling the same degree of hydraulic non-linearity as SEEP/W,
which opens the door to solving various classes of problems with a new degree of rigour.
For example, it is now possible to simulate the complex saturated-unsaturated flow
that occurs during staged construction of tailings dams
in which a significant portion of the domain is unsaturated at the onset of construction.
The consolidation formulation now considers the bulk modulus of the pore-fluid,
making it possible to simulate fully undrained responses without numerical issues.
All stress-strain material models can be used in a consolidation analysis and the unsaturated response is handled in a consistent manner.
In addition, a saturated-only hydraulic material model is now available,
making it easier and faster to define the hydraulic properties for consolidation problems involving saturated soils.
Convergence settings are now uniquely defined for stress-strain and water flow analyses.
This allows for the modification of convergence requirements to cope with hydraulic non-linearity
without affecting the number of iterations required to deal with the stress-strain non-linearity.
This means that the new SIGMA/W consolidation analysis type can model complicated flow systems
with the same rigour as SEEP/W.
The ability to simulate an impervious structure has been added to SIGMA/W,
making it easy to model structures that impede the flow of water such as sheet pile walls.
This new feature removes the need to use interface elements with low conductivity
and/or null elements adjacent to geotechnical structures.
A stress redistribution analysis is a critical aspect of modelling geotechnical problems with non-linear material behaviour.
This analysis type is used for a variety of reasons:
to ensure that stress state in the soil obeys the failure criteria before conducting a load-deformation analysis,
to calculate the stability of a geotechnical structure,
and to conduct limit state design.
The new stress redistribution algorithm in SIGMA/W is capable of doing a stress correction analysis
for any material model with a failure criteria.
Automated Strength Reduction Stability has been added to SIGMA/W.
This method is advantageous for a number of reasons.
The shape of the slip surface does not have to be pre-supposed, and the deformation patterns are naturally revealed in the analysis.
Soil-structure interactions are rigorously and intuitively handled and complex soil behavior is automatically captured.
The material model library has been significantly enhanced and improved, making it possible to model new classes of problems
such as excavations in jointed rock, construction of embankments on foundations that undergo strain hardening or softening,
and the undrained behaviour of low conductivity soils.
New material models available in SIGMA/W include:
A hardening/softening Mohr-Coulomb Model, which captures the strain hardening and/or softening behaviour
common to soils exhibiting shear,
and allows the effective stress friction angle, dilation angle, and cohesion to vary with deviatoric strain.
The Tresca material model, which can be used to model true undrained strength conditions.
And a hardening/softening version of the Tresca material model.
Two new rock material models have also been added.
The Ubiquitous Joint model can now be used for materials exhibiting well-defined strength anisotropy
caused by planes of weakness, or joints.
And the Hoek-Brown material model for simulating stresses associated with rock joints, given the specified Hoek-Brown failure criterion.
Previous material models that have been updated include
the Mohr-Coulomb model, which now includes a tension cut-off option,
the Isotropic Elastic material model, Modified Cam-Clay, and the Hyperbolic material model.
All non-linear elastic and elastic-plastic constitutive models were updated
such that they are capable of calculating solutions that are independent of the number of load-steps
used to divide a load/displacement boundary condition.
Finally, a non-linear elasticity option was added to all material models except Anisotropic Elastic.
Substantial improvements were made to the response types in the material definition.
All material models are assigned a response type for load-deformation analyses.
Undrained and drained response types can be combined in a load-deformation analysis,
making it possible to simulate a free draining material overlying a fully undrained material.
Pore-water pressures are calculated for materials designated as undrained.
As such, the excess pore-water pressure that develops in a low conductivity geologic unit can now be calculated
without doing a consolidation analysis.
In a consolidation analysis, the response type is ignored as all materials are assumed to be consolidating.
However, a material option was added to designate a material with 'no change in pore pressure during loading'.
This allows the groundwater flow equations to be solved for all materials on the domain,
while ensuring that some materials do not respond to loading or unloading.
Undrained behaviour is now simulated using effective stress stiffness properties instead of total stress stiffness properties.
Improvements made to viewing and interpreting simulation results include the option to view plastic states on the domain.
This allows for the visualization of a variety of stress-state conditions including failure, yielding on the cap surface,
yielding on the shear surface, and engagement of the tension cut-off surface.
This is critical for interpreting results when sophisticated stress-strain material models are employed in an analysis,
as it allows for the differentiation between portions of the domain that have failed and those that have yielded.
The Draw Graph capabilities have been expanded to include state parameters.
And new convergence graphs were added to provide insight on the effect of material non-linearity
and convergence settings on solve time performance.
That concludes our review of the new features and improved functionality available in GeoStudio 2021.
For more information, please contact the GeoStudio Sales Team at sales@geoslope.com
or you can submit technical questions through our online support portal.
Thank you for watching and enjoy using GeoStudio 2021.