New in PLAXIS 3D 2023.2
Cable element
Added cable element and material type to simulate rock reinforcement like grouted cables or frictional/grouted bolts that work mostly in tension/compression. The Material definition includes the input of bond stiffness and bond strength parameters in line with rock engineering practice. Other capabilities include confining stress dependency and pre-stressing the element. The cable element is available in all product tiers.
Import of surfaces from Seequent Central (Tech. preview)
Surfaces created in Leapfrog that have been published to Central can be imported directly into PLAXIS 3D with the new "Import Surfaces from Central" option. This allows users to create their subsurface model in PLAXIS 3D based on the contact surfaces in the Surface Chronology of the Geological Model, as well as the Topography available in the published Leapfrog project. This is a technology preview based on the triangulated surfaces implementation introduced in V22 with certain limitations to the surface representation:
- Steep transitions, sharp edges or corners present in the surface are smoothed out, i.e. open pit geometry, vertical cuts etc.
- Very complex surfaces with high triangle counts cannot be handled and will require simplification on beforehand.
- Nearly closed and closed surfaces cannot be imported correctly, i.e. isolated soil lenses or isolated intrusions. Those will need to be split into separate surfaces on beforehand.
This feature is available as a technology preview and while the import has been tested, it will be less robust compared to regular features. Users will encounter some issues when using this feature.
This feature is available in all tiers and requires a valid Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement to use as well as a Central license.
UDSM: SANISAND-MS
SANISAND-MS is a stress ratio controlled, critical state compatible, bounding surface plasticity model formulated to improve the simulation of the drained mechanical response of sands and sandy soils in high-cyclic loading conditions. The model can be used in engineering applications requiring the prediction of strain accumulation under thousands of drained cyclic loadings. SANISAND-MS includes features such as a memory surface subjected to isotropic and kinematic hardening to account for fabric-related effects on the cyclic ratcheting of sands and a kinematic hardening for the yield surface. The model is available as a User Defined Soil Model and can be used in the Advanced tier by specifying the cyclic loading through a succession of plastic analysis phases, or in the Ultimate tier with cyclic loading applied as a dynamic load multiplier in a Dynamic calculation phase. A valid Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement is also required.