Learning

Software Tutorials

Homogeneous Embankment Dam Analysis (Part 1 of 3)

This FLAC 8.1 tutorial demonstrates how to establish the stresses in the dry embankment prior to the formation of the upstream reservoir.

FLAC3D 7 0 Octree Mesh Tutorial

In this example, a pile of earth is modeled overlying undulating ground. This tutorial demonstrates how a FLAC3D model mesh can be easily created using DXF geometries and the ZONE DENSIFY command. How to differentiate parts of the model into separate GROUPs using DXF geometries and the GEOMETRY-SPACE range logic is also demonstrated.

Creating Groups Interactively and Automatically using the Model Pane

In this tutorial, we review how to automatically skin models, identify and group zone faces, and interactively select and group zones and zone faces. This tutorial also illustrates using the Model Pane to interactively add a shell structural element along a tunnel.

Technical Papers

Mine Dewatering in a Compartmentalized Hydrogeologic Setting at Sishen Mine in South Africa

Sishen mine in South Africa is one of the largest open-pit iron mines in the world.

Connectivity, permeability, and channeling in randomly distributed and kinematically defined discrete fracture network models

A major use of DFN models for industrial applications is to evaluate permeability and flow structure in hardrock aquifers from geological observations of fracture networks. The relationship between the statistical fracture density distributions and permeability has been extensively studied, but there has been little interest in the spatial structure of DFN models, which is generally assumed to be spatially random (i.e., Poisson). In this paper, we compare the predictions of Poisson DFNs to new DFN models where fractures result from a growth process defined by simplified kinematic rules for nucleation, growth, and fracture arrest.

Analysis of Large-ScalePit Slope Stability —The Aitik Mine Revisited