GeoStudio Workshop - Chengdu, China

GEO-SLOPE International and CnTech Co. Ltd. invite you to attend our annual GeoStudio Chinese Users Conference, taking place in Chengdu, China, November 9-11, 2011.

Dr. Leonard Lam, a Senior Geotechnical Engineer at GEO-SLOPE, will demonstrate the many different types of practical geotechnical problems that can be analysed using GeoStudio. He will also review key engineering concepts, discuss the physics underlying the software, and provide opportunities for hands-on modeling.

Please visit CnTech's web site for additional information and registration details.

Banff 2011 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop

We have reached full capacity for our Banff geotechnical modeling workshop and are looking forward to a great event.

2011 Pan-Am CGS Geotechnical Conference

GEO-SLOPE was pleased to be a Platinum Sponsor at the 2011 Pan-Am CGS Geotechnical Conference that recently took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We would like to thank the conference organizers, the other exhibitors, and everyone who dropped by our booth to say hello.

We look forward to seeing you again next year at GeoManitoba 2012, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 30 - October 3, 2012.

Banff 2011 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop

With only three months before the start of our Banff 2011 Geotechnical Modeling workshop, we are now more than half full. Registration has been brisk, and we anticipate being completely full well before the October 17th start.

If you are considering joining us in Banff this year to fine-tune your numerical modeling skills, please act quickly to secure your attendance at this popular event.

Details and registration forms for the Banff 2011 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop are available online.

Rapid Drawdown with Multi-Stage Approach

Using SLOPE/W, stability during rapid drawdown can be analyzed in two approaches, namely the effective strength approach and the staged undrained strength approach. The purpose of this illustrative example is to show how to conduct a rapid drawdown analysis using the staged undrained strength, or multi-stage approach.

We have taken the Walter Bouldin Dam, and three other published examples analyzed by Duncan, Wright and Wong (1990), and the Corps of the Engineers (2003), and have analysed them using the multi-stage approach with SLOPE/W. In all cases, essentially the same solutions are obtained between the published examples and SLOPE/W.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the example file:

     Rapid Drawdown with Multi-Stage

Panama Canal

The November-December 2010 issue of Geo-Strata Magazine focused on the Geotechnics of the Panama Canal and its history and lore. As highlighted in the magazine, the canal is being upgraded and expanded to accommodate more and bigger ships.

In April GEO-SLOPE was invited to come to Panama to help the Canal geotechnical engineers become more proficient in the use of GeoStudio. It was a great four days seeing the Canal engineers discover more effective ways of using GeoStudio and for us to understand how GeoStudio is aiding in the design and construction of the Panama Canal expansion project.

Europe 2011 Workshop - Zurich

With less than two months before our Zurich workshop takes place, we are now more than half full! The number of registrations during the last month typically increases, so if you are considering attending the workshop, please make sure you register as soon as possible.

At the workshop you can take advantage of the focused technical sessions on SLOPE/W, SEEP/W and SIGMA/W to sharpen your numerical modelling skills under the direction of GEO-SLOPE's expert engineering team.

Details of the Europe 2011 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop are available online, and space is limited to 30 participants. Please join us 30 May ‑ 1 June 2011, in Zurich, Switzerland!

GeoFrontiers 2011

We recently attended the GeoFrontiers 2001 conference in Dallas and enjoyed both catching up with current clients, and meeting many new geotechnical engineers interested in our GeoStudio software.

One highlight of the conference was the National Student GeoChallenge where teams are asked to design and build a scale model of a mechanically-stabilized earth wall using dry sand and paper reinforcement behind a poster board facing in a plywood form.

We were very pleased to learn that this year’s winners from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute had used GeoStudio 2007! According to Waleed El-Sekelly, one of the RPI team members; “GeoStudio 2007 allowed us to model the interface between soil and structural elements which helped us to efficiently design the MSE wall and win the GeoChallenge”. Congratulations to the RPI team!

Are you up to date?

Make sure you visit our downloads page to ensure that you are running the latest version of GeoStudio.

Europe 2011 Workshop - Zurich

Please join us at our next training event taking place 30 May - 1 June 2011, in Zurich, Switzerland!

At the workshop you can take advantage of the focused technical sessions on SLOPE/W, SEEP/W and SIGMA/W to sharpen your numerical modelling skills under the direction of GEO-SLOPE's expert engineering team.

Details of the Europe 2011 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop are available online, space is limited to 30 participants so register today!

Seepage Exit Gradients

Most Soil Mechanics text books present and discuss the concept of seepage exit gradients and state that the exit gradients should not be greater than 1.0. Applying this criteria to two-dimensional finite element seepage analyses requires an understanding as to the conditions for which the criteria was developed and the physical meaning of an exit gradient greater than unity (1.0).

Download and read the technical white paper, Seepage Exit Gradients, which discusses the background as to how the exit gradient criterion was developed, how this criterion should be viewed when interpreting 2D finite element seepage analyses and why computed exit gradients cannot always be taken at face value.

Geo-Frontiers 2011

This month we will be at Geo-Frontiers 2011 in Dallas, Texas, March 13-16, 2011. Please drop by our booth to learn more about our software and our company.

Europe 2011 Workshop - Zurich

GEO-SLOPE International is pleased to announce that our next Geotechnical Modelling workshop will be held May 30 May - 1 June 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Our annual public workshops are well attended events where GEO-SLOPE clients from around the world gather to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modelling skills under the guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

See the Europe 2011 workshop page for a registration form and additional details.

GeoStudio Solutions

Are you looking for a set of solutions based on typical engineering projects? Visit our Solutions page and find out how you can make the most of GeoStudio 2007 in your engineering practice.

Online Training

Did you resolve to improve your numerical modelling skills in 2011? Well then we'd like to remind you that you can find more than thirty hours of free workshop videos on our web site to help you achieve your goal!

These online videos will allow you to self-host your own geotechnical modeling workshop, either for a group of engineers, or simply for your individual training needs.

To start working on your resolution today, visit our self-hosted workshop page.

Merry Christmas

As the holidays approach and we draw close to the end of another year, we at GEO-SLOPE would like to take this time to express our profound sense of gratitude.

We are grateful for your dedication, and for the opportunity to work with you and your organization to advance the practice of geotechnical engineering. We are grateful for the support and enthusiasm of our resellers who work with us around the world, for the remarkable team that we have assembled, and for the extraordinary things that we have been able to accomplish together.

We will be closing for Christmas holidays; however we will still be monitoring email to some extent and trying to respond to urgent support requests as much as possible. The last day of regular business hours in 2010 will be Thursday, Dec 23rd. Our office will reopen on Monday, Jan 3rd, 2011.

We look forward to the challenges and opportunities that 2011 will bring, as we continue to work towards our goal of creating software that is both technically comprehensive and easy to use. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Grokking GeoStudio

In this latest instalment of Exploring the XML File Format, Nate responds to a reader who is interested in writing a GeoStudio XML file from scratch in order to perform batch calculations with it.

GeoStudio Self-Hosted Workshops

Over the years we have hosted countless workshops around the world for our clients. While these onsite workshops continue to be valuable, it’s impossible for us to visit every one of our clients! As a result, we have created a series of training videos that replicate much of our onsite workshop experience.

These resources will allow you to self-host your own geotechnical modeling workshop, either for a group of engineers, or simply for your individual training needs.

To find out more about the online training options, visit our self-hosted workshop page today and kick-start your geotechnical modeling with more than thirty hours of content for you to dive into.

2011 Pan-Am CGS Geotechnical Conference

GEO-SLOPE is pleased to be a Platinum Sponsor at the upcoming 2011 Pan-Am CGS Geotechnical Conference, taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2-6, 2011. We are very excited about this conference as it will be the combination of the 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, and the 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.

For more information you can visit the conference web site, and if you are planning on being there, please drop by our booth to say hello.

GEO-FRONTIERS 2011

GEO-SLOPE will be exhibiting at the Geo-Frontiers 2011 Conference in in Dallas, Texas, March 13-16, 2011. The conference is being organized by the ASCE’s Geo-Institute, the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the North American chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society, and the Geosynthetics Materials Association.

Please make sure to drop by our booth to say hello. For more information you can visit the Geo-Frontiers 2011 conference web site.

Detailed Example: Grid And Radius

One of the more traditional methods for creating the trial slip surfaces in a stability analysis is the Grid and Radius method. The objective of this example is to show how the grid and radius slip surface option can be used in controlling the slip surface searches in SLOPE/W.

The purpose of this illustrative example is primarily to show how to utilize the grid and radius slip surface option to obtain a circular critical slip surface. Other special features include:

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the example file:

     Grid And Radius

Banff 2010 Workshop

In October we hosted over forty engineers at our annual workshop in Banff, Alberta, once again selling out the event. Unlike previous years, we enjoyed warm sunny weather the entire week! But as always we appreciated the opportunity to connect with our customers, and trust they benefited from the occasion as well.

Details of the 2011 workshop will be available at a future date on the Banff Workshop page.

Kuala Lumpur Training

Our representative, Otte Utama (M) Sdn Bhd, in Malaysia recently conducted a GeoStudio Standard Training in Kuala Lumpur. The targeted audience was for engineers who were looking for an introduction to the different tools as well as the modeling techniques in GeoStudio. There was an enthusiastic group of 20 engineers who participated in the course and got a chance to get their first hands-on experience using the software.

Otte is planning on having more detailed training covering the theory and the fundamentals of topics relevant to GeoStudio. This is tentatively scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2011.

Detailed Example: Cut In London Clay

Potts et al. (1997) used a finite element analysis to explore a link between strain softening and delayed failures of old railway slopes cut into stiff plastic clays. Strain softening causes a soil’s strength to reduce from a peak to residual state. The strength loss does not occur simultaneously along a potential rupture zone because the rate of softening is linked with the magnitude of shear straining. As a result, the failure is progressive in the sense that the rupture surface propagates through the soil profile over time. Potts et al. (1997) simulated the progressive failure by using an elastic-plastic model in which strain softening was accommodated by allowing the effective strength properties to vary with deviatoric plastic strain.

The primary objective of this example is to demonstrate how the coupled formulation in SIGMA/W can be used to simulate the excavation process and associated time-dependent pore-water pressure response and deformations (i.e. swelling). The excavation and swelling analyses are representative of a non-strain softening soil. A secondary objective of this example file is to demonstrate how the strength reduction technique implemented within SIGMA/W can be used to capture the essence of a progressive failure. SIGMA/W does not have a strain-softening model; consequently, a progressive failure cannot be modeled in the truest sense. Specifically, the strength reduction technique cannot be used to simulate the time-dependency of a progressive failure, which occurs simultaneously, or as a result of the swelling phase. Rather, the strength reduction technique is applied after the swelling phase to determine the possibility of a progressive failure and explore the location and shape of the critical slip surface.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the example file:

     Cut In London Clay

Banff 2010 Workshop

Anticipation is growing for our fall Geotechnical Modeling workshop in Banff, Alberta, Canada. This is a great hands-on opportunity for both beginning and experienced software users to receive training and sharpen modeling skills. We encourage you to join us if you would like to get more out of your use of GeoStudio.

The focus of the first three days are SLOPE/W, SEEP/W and SIGMA/W, along with a review of fundamental theory. The optional fourth day allows participants to take part in QUAKE/W, TEMP/W and VADOSE/W sessions or work on models in a Study Hall context.

Registration is open. Full details are available on the Banff Workshop page.

GEO-SLOPE on Twitter

We are now tweeting from @geoslope. Not exactly sure what tweeting is? Visit our Twitter page to find out.

Detailed Example: Sheet Pile Wall

Deep excavations usually require proper reinforcement to prevent failure. In this SLOPE/W example we illustrate how the stability of a deep excavation with a sheet pile wall can be evaluated.

Features of this simulation include: the Morgenstern-Price method, use of the Entry and Exit slip surface option, a dry slope with no pore-water pressure condition, use of anchors to reinforce the slope, use of a pile to model the sheet pile, use of a line load to model the sheet pile, and hand calculation of the passive earth pressure.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the file:

     Sheet Pile Wall

Banff 2010 Workshop

Anticipation is growing for our fall Geotechnical Modeling workshop in Banff, Alberta, Canada. This is a great hands-on opportunity for both beginning and experienced software users to receive training and sharpen modeling skills. We encourage you to join us if you would like to get more out of your use of GeoStudio.

The focus of the first three days are SLOPE/W, SEEP/W and SIGMA/W, along with a review of fundamental theory. The optional fourth day allows participants to take part in QUAKE/W, TEMP/W and VADOSE/W sessions or work on models in a Study Hall context.

Registration is open. Full details are available on the Banff Workshop page.

Tips & Tricks: License Borrowing

Did you know that if you have GeoStudio 2007 network licenses you can borrow a license to a laptop if you need to travel or be away from the office?

License borrowing allows you to check out a license for use while disconnected from your corporate network. This feature enables you to temporarily make use of a network license in a standalone capacity. Once a license is borrowed, the license is removed from the pool, decreasing the number of available licenses on the network.

Please contact us if you would like to have your network license borrow enabled.

Windows 7 Support

GeoStudio 2007 has successfully passed stringent tests for both compatibility and reliability with Windows 7, earning it the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo from Microsoft.

Europe 2010 Workshop

Last month we had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Haarlem, The Netherlands and meeting nearly twenty engineers from Norway, Belgium, Poland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, England, U.A.E. and Thailand at our annual workshop in Europe.

The workshop was a great success and we are looking forward to cultivating the connections that we made for many years to come!

Tips & Tricks: Running Older Versions

Did you know that GeoStudio 2007, GeoStudio 2004, and GEO-SLOPE Office 5 can be installed on the same computer simultaneously?

The GeoStudio 2007 license file will enable you to run whichever version you wish to work with at any given time, and if desired, all programs can be opened simultaneously. The only requirement for this functionality is that you are using the latest Service Pack for the older versions.

Detailed Example: Slope With Ponded Water

In this SLOPE/W example we show how the stability of a partially submerged slope can be modeled.

Features of this simulation include; modeling a partially submerged slope, incorporating pore-water pressures with a piezometric line, altering the unit weight of water of the ponded water layer, and the benefits of using hand calculation of some slice forces.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the file:

     Slope With Ponded Water

Shanghai and Wuhan GeoStudio Workshops

GEO-SLOPE International and CnTech Co. Ltd. invite you to attend our annual GeoStudio Chinese Users Conference, taking place in Shanghai on June 5th, and Wuhan on June 9, 2010.

Dr. Leonard Lam, GEO-SLOPE's Senior Geotechnical Engineer will demonstrate the many different types of practical geotechnical problems that can be analysed using GeoStudio 2007. He will also review key engineering concepts, discuss the physics underlying the software, and provide opportunities for hands-on modeling.

At this year’s conference attendees will work with the all-new Chinese language version of GeoStudio 2007. All menus, dialog boxes, and user messages are displayed in Chinese, as are results and printed reports.

Attendees at the conference will receive a complimentary time-limited license of GeoStudio 2007 which can be used during the technical sessions to practice hands-on modelling with case studies and example files.

Please visit CnTech's web site for additional information and registration details.

Detailed Example: Reinforcement With Fabrics

In this SLOPE/W example we show how geo-fabric can be used to improve the overall stability of a slope.

Several different analyses are contained within the data file that highlight the various fabric options and their effect on the factor of safety.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the file:

     Reinforcement With Fabrics

GeoShanghai 2010

GEO-SLOPE will be at GeoShanghai 2010 from June 3-5, 2010. Please stop by our booth to see the new Chinese language version of GeoStudio 2007.

Banff 2010 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop

GEO-SLOPE International Ltd. invites you to join us in the Canadian Rocky Mountains this fall for our Banff 2010 Geotechnical Modeling workshop.

Surrounded by stunning scenery and removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, Banff is a perfect setting to gather with GEO-SLOPE clients from around the world to learn and fine-tune your numerical modeling skills.

Details of the Banff 2010 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop are available online, and space is limited, so register today!

Detailed Example: Slip On Weak Layer

GEO-SLOPE's example files are commonly searched for analyses related to composite-type slip surfaces translating on weak stratigraphic units. The frequency of this search is likely a reflection of this common mode of failure. Composite failures can be modeled in SLOPE/W by defining a region having a weak material overlying an impenetrable bedrock material. The basic example file returned by the search helps clarify some of the failure mechanisms and guides the way to other powerful means of analyzing translational failures (e.g. using an anisotropic strength modifier to represent a very thin weak layer that is not easily incorporated by drawing a region).

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the file:

     Slip On Weak Layer

Grokking GeoStudio

How can you determine what has changed when it's time to re-solve your problem? And just what does " Solution out of date" really mean?

Eurocode 7, also known as EN 1997, became mandatory in member states as of March 1, 2010. Leading up to the implementation date we have had several inquiries about how Eurocode 7 relates to GeoStudio 2007.

As a result, GEO-SLOPE's engineers in conjunction with our partner in the United Kingdom, have developed a technical white paper that discusses how GeoStudio 2007 can be used in the context of Eurocode 7 and Limit States Design.

We encourage anyone who could be affected by Eurocode 7 to download and read the technical white paper, GeoStudio software in the context of the Eurocode and Limit States Design, and then send us your feedback.

Europe 2010 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop

Please join us at our next training event taking place 17-19 May 2010, in Haarlem, The Netherlands!

At the workshop you can take advantage of the focused technical sessions on SLOPE/W, SEEP/W and SIGMA/W to sharpen your numerical modelling skills under the direction of GEO-SLOPE's expert engineering team.

Details of the Europe 2010 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop are available online, and space is limited to 35 participants, so register today!

Recent Geotechnical Book

Includes a GeoStudio Student Edition DVD.

We are very pleased to announce an all-new Chinese language option for GeoStudio 2007. All menus, dialog boxes, and user messages can now be displayed in Chinese. You can even generate a report of your results, with all text displayed in Chinese.

Our thanks to CnTech Co., Ltd. for their invaluable help with the Chinese translation. You can attend one of the upcoming workshops in Shanghai and Wuhan to learn more about modeling with the GeoStudio Chinese language version.

In addition to the Chinese language option, we have been working on bug fixes and improving the stability of the software. Version 7.16 is a free upgrade and will be a beneficial upgrade for all GeoStudio 2007 customers. See the Release Notes for a full list of the improvements that we have made.

Click here to download GeoStudio 2007 v7.16.

Detailed Example: Bangkok Wickdrain Study

In anticipation of the construction of a new airport in Bangkok, full-scale test embankments were constructed on the soft clay at the site to study the effectiveness of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) for accelerating the consolidation and dissipation of the excess pore-pressures resulting from fill placement. The results of the field tests have been studied and analyzed by two different research groups: one at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, the other at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

We have re-analyzed portions of this case history to demonstrate how GeoStudio 2007 can be used to model the effect of PVDs in the consolidation of soft soils.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the file:

     Bangkok Wickdrain Study

The cut-off wall example highlights the functionality of an Interface Material Model within a SEEP/W analysis.

Ideally, materials that are relatively non-conductive, or otherwise impermeable, should be accommodated in a finite element analysis by excluding the material from the domain (i.e. leaving a 'gap' in the domain). However, including the impermeable material is often required for presentation purposes or some other reason.

The cut-off wall example makes use of the Interface Material Model, which can be assigned a normal and tangential hydraulic conductivity equal to zero, making it impermeable. The other material models in SEEP/W do not permit hydraulic conductivity to have a value of zero. This ability makes the Interface model rather unique. Moreover, the Interface Material Model has a variety of other uses, particularly if a material promotes flow in one direction (e.g. concrete facing on a dam).

Read the Detailed Example, and then download the free GeoStudio 2007 Viewer License and follow along using the data file.

Europe 2010 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop

GEO-SLOPE International is pleased to announce our return to Haarlem, The Netherlands for our next Geotechnical Modelling workshop, to be held May 17-19, 2010. Our annual public workshops are well attended events where GEO-SLOPE clients from around the world gather to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modelling skills under the guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

Visit the Europe 2010 training page to register, and plan to join us in Haarlem this spring!

Grokking GeoStudio

Find out how to work with templates in GeoStudio 2007, and also how to create your own custom template.

GEO-SLOPE Events in 2010

June 3-5, GeoShaghai 2010: http://www.geoshanghai2010.org/

September 12-16, GEO2010 - Calgary: http://www.geo2010.ca/

As the holidays approach and we draw close to the end of another year, we at GEO-SLOPE would like to take this time to express our profound sense of gratitude.

We are grateful for your supportive feedback, and for the opportunity to work with you and your organization to advance the practice of geotechnical engineering. We are grateful for the dedication of our resellers that work with us around the world, for the team that we have assembled, and for the extraordinary things that we have been able to accomplish together.

We will be closing for Christmas holidays; however we will still be monitoring email to some extent and trying to respond to urgent support requests as much as possible. The last day of regular business hours in 2009 will be Wednesday, Dec 23rd. Our office will reopen on Monday, Jan 4th, 2010.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we look forward to meeting you next year at one of the training workshops in Europe or Western Canada.

GeoStudio Update Notification

When a new release of GeoStudio 2007 has been published to our web site, the software will notify you that it is available to download. In the past we have not been able to provide this type of notification to an IT department that administers a floating network license. Now your IT department can be alerted too, without having to actually run GeoStudio.

Just visit the GEO-SLOPE home page and click on one of the RSS feed icons under the Software Updates heading, and then subscribe using your favourite RSS client.

Loose sand can have a collapsible grain-structure. The behavior of such sand can be described by what is called a collapse surface or flow liquefaction line. The insitu static stress state conditions relative to the collapse surface have a dramatic effect on the potential liquefaction of the sand during earthquake shaking. An insitu stress state in q-p' space close to the collapse surface will likely liquefy under any strong motion shaking while a stress state far from the collapse surface would require a significant generation of excess pore-pressures for liquefaction to occur.

Read the paper: Procedures and Methods for a Liquefaction Assessment using GeoStudio 2007, which describes these concepts and shows how GeoStudio can be conveniently used for such an assessment.

In the end, as pointed out in the paper, it is vitally important to establish the initial static insitu effective stress state conditions, especially the static shear stress conditions, for a liquefaction assessment. Without first establishing the initial static stress state conditions using SIGMA/W with considerable confidence, a follow up QUAKE/W dynamic analysis may be of limited value.

The Annual Geotechnical Modeling Workshop in Banff

With a full conference room of eager people and a brand new location, the 9th Annual Geotechnical Modeling workshop was the best we've ever held. Nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Banff Park Lodge was a perfect setting for attendees to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modeling skills under the personal guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

Many thanks to all of the attendees, and the special group of people at GEO-SLOPE who helped to make the workshop such a great success! We are looking forward to next year's workshop and will post dates and locations when they become available.

Faster Downloads

In response to your feedback, we have improved download speeds from our website. Let us know if these changes have helped you.

Grokking GeoStudio

Exploring the hidden secrets of the XML format in GeoStudio 2007.

We have added a new section to our web site that organizes our engineering resources into a coherent set of solutions based on typical engineering projects. These Solutions have been designed to provide you with resources to make the most of GeoStudio 2007 in your engineering practice.

See how GeoStudio helps with:

• Dams and Levees
• Reinforced Walls and Slopes
• Excavations and Open Pit Mines
• Roads, Bridges, Embankments
• Environmental Protection
• Construction Ground Freezing
• Climate Change and Arctic Engineering
• Earthquake Deformations

If your solution category isn’t listed, let us know! These solutions represent just some of the ways you can apply GeoStudio to your engineering problems.

GeoStudio 2007 - 7.15 Release

Since our last release, we have been focusing on bug fixes and improving the stability of the software. Version 7.15 is a free upgrade for all GeoStudio 2007 customers, and will be a beneficial upgrade for anyone using version 7.14. But you may be asking, "why should I bother?" Here are just a few of the key improvements that we've made:

• Bug fixes and stability improvements. See the Release Notes for a detailed list.
• Improved taskbar integration with Windows 7.
• Improved integration with 64-bit Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• Windows Search integration makes it easier to find your GeoStudio files on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• GeoStudio 2007 is Windows 7 Compatible.

Plus many more improvements to the software!

Visit the Downloads page to update your software and read the release history for more details.

Banff Workshop

October 19-22, 2009. Banff, Alberta, Canada. Registration closes October 5th, so please register soon!

Grokking GeoStudio

Search inside GeoStudio files right from your desktop!

Stability analysis during rapid drawdown is an important consideration in the design of embankment dams. During rapid drawdown, the stabilizing effect of the water on the upstream face is lost, but the pore-water pressures within the embankment may remain high. As a result, the stability of the upstream face of the dam can be much reduced.

The dissipation of pore-water pressure in the embankment during rapid drawdown is largely influenced by the permeability and the storage characteristic of the embankment materials. Instead of doing a stability analysis of the embankment with an assumed piezometric line after the rapid drawdown, a rigorous approach is to model the dissipation of pore-water pressure in the embankment with SEEP/W first and then use SLOPE/W to compute the factor of safety of the embankment based on the computed pore-water pressures. SLOPE/W reads in the SEEP/W pore water pressure of all time steps automatically to compute the factor of safety versus time after the rapid drawdown. 

The following figure shows the critical slip surface and factor of safety before drawdown when the reservoir is at full supply level. The light blue region is the reservoir. The factor of safety before drawdown is 1.977.

The next figure shows the SEEP/W computed piezometric lines at different time steps after the rapid drawdown. As you can see, the piezometric surface in the embankment is dropping with time due to pore-water dissipation when the reservoir is empty.

The subsequent figure shows the critical slip surface and factor of safety of the embankment when the pore water pressure at 18 hours after rapid drawdown was used. The factor of safety is 1.144.

This last figure shows the computed factor of safety of the embankment versus time after the rapid drawdown. The factor of safety dropped quickly from 1.977 to below 1.0 shortly after the rapid drawdown and gradually increased to 1.737 after 58 days.

The advantage of this approach is that the hydraulic properties of the materials can be considered, and time can be included in the analysis. Therefore rapid drawdown is not just an instance in time, but is a process. A prerequisite is that a finite element transient seepage analysis is required, however in the design of an embankment dam, the hydraulic properties of the materials are usually available and a seepage analysis is likely necessary.

GeoStudio 2007 allows easy integration between SLOPE/W and SEEP/W, making this rigorous approach an attractive alternative.

GeoStudio 2007 Compatible with Windows^® 7

GEO-SLOPE is pleased to announce that GeoStudio 2007 is the first geotechnical modeling software to receive the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo from Microsoft.

The Compatible for Windows 7 logo indicates that GeoStudio 2007 will install reliably, run securely, and perform well on both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7. Note that GeoStudio 2007 will also continue to run on Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. [read more...]

Banff Workshop

October 19-22, 2009. Banff, Alberta, Canada. Seats fill up quickly, so please register early.

Grokking GeoStudio

Check out Nate's latest blog entry that delves into sensitivity studies, probabilistic analyses, and other ways of generating large numbers of similar analyses.

We have added a new water ponding feature in all of the finite-element products, a much-requested feature after it was added to SLOPE/W.

This new feature shows the computed reservoir height dynamically moving during both the filling and drawdown of the reservoir.

To consider how this might enhance your next presentation, watch a movie of the feature in action

GeoStudio Update

Download version 7.14 of GeoStudio 2007 and review the release history for more details.

2009 European Workshop - June 1-3, 2009

We are fast approaching the Europe 2009 Geotechnical Modelling Workshop in Haarlem! There is still space available if you are considering attending this excellent training opportunity.

To join us, please complete the Registration Form or see the web site for complete details.

Peru 2009 Geotechnical Modeling Workshop

Last month we had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Lima and meeting nearly fifty engineers from Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico at our first workshop in South America.

From our perspective the workshop was a great success and we are looking forward to cultivating the connections that were made for many years to come!

Relief wells are commonly installed on the downstream side of an earth dam or levee to control the seepage and pore-pressures. A key design requirement for a problem of this type is the required well spacing.

The plan view option in SEEP/W can be used to explore the relative effect of well spacing on the seepage and pore-pressures.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the data file.

Upcoming Geotechnical Workshops

GEO-SLOPE is holding a series of public geotechnical modeling workshops this spring and fall where clients from around the world can gather to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modeling skills under the guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

The workshops follow a similar format, teaching general numerical modeling skills as well as hands-on experience with GEO-SLOPE software. Whether you wish to be eased into the world of numerical modeling, or experiment with new types of analyses, we invite you to join us at one of the workshops.

Space is limited, so please register soon to avoid disappointment!

Hong Kong Buildings Department

SLOPE/W 2007 has recently been added to the list of Pre-accepted Geotechnical Programs for use in Hong Kong.

Please contact GEO-SLOPE or visit the Buildings Department web site for reference numbers and validity periods.

Grokking GeoStudio

Find out why long filenames can cause problems, and how you can avoid some of the common pitfalls.

GEO-SLOPE International is pleased to announce that our next Geotechnical Modelling workshop will be held 1-3 June 2009 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Our annual public workshops are well attended events where GEO-SLOPE clients from around the world gather to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modelling skills under the guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

See the Europe 2009 training page for a registration form and additional details on the workshop.

Volumetric Expansion due to Excavation

SIGMA/W is commonly used to simulate the deformation and pore water pressure response of foundation soils beneath the load of a stage-constructed embankment. A less common use of SIGMA/W is the simulation these phenomenon during unloading by means of an excavation. Rapid unloading can lead to the development of negative pore water pressures around the face of the excavation.

Embankment construction problems usually involve the generation of excess pore water pressures in the foundation soils if the stratigraphic units have a low hydraulic conductivity. The rapid placement of fill creates a tendency for volumetric compression; that is to say the soil void space wants to compress, but the pore water must be expulsed from the pore space in order for this to occur, leading to excess pore water pressures. The foundation soils consolidate over time as the excess pore water pressures dissipate at a rate that is dependent on the hydraulic conductivity of the soils, and the proximity to the drainage boundaries.

Keeping this in mind, consider what happens when a low hydraulic conductivity (e.g. clay) soil is unloaded by means of an excavation. The rapid removal of the soils in the excavation creates a tendency for volumetric expansion. The soil (void space) wants to expand because of the stress relief; however, this requires that the soil imbibe, as opposed to expulse, water. In other words, water must flow from the surrounding area to the unsaturated zone around the excavation. In extreme cases—such as rapid unloading (excavation) of very low hydraulic conductivity units—it may even be possible to depress the phreatic surface and require decades for the pore water pressures to recover to positive values.

Using the View Movie command in Contour, we can show the pore water pressure response during a SIGMA/W simulation of an excavation in a very low hydraulic conductivity soil. The excavation occurs rapidly and is completed in seven lifts. The unloading causes the phreatic surface to be depressed to an elevation of about 1 metre below the base of the excavation. The subsequent recovery of the negative pore water pressures occurs over a thirty year period.

Grokking GeoStudio

Find out how using the Snap to Grid option can help you avoid costly mistakes when defining your geometry.

Merry Christmas

As the holidays approach and we draw close to the end of another year, we at GEO-SLOPE would like to take this time to express our profound sense of gratitude. We are grateful for the team that we have assembled, and for the extraordinary things that we have been able to accomplish together. We are grateful for your supportive feedback, and for the opportunity to work with you and your organization to advance the practice of geotechnical engineering.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil at The Smithsonian

If you are looking for something to do over the holidays that will still keep you "in touch" with your work, why not visit Dig It!

This virtual exhibit is part of the travelling exhibition currently on display at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Dig It! journeys just under the surface to explore the fascinating world of soil, and why it is so important for all of us understand and protect.

Grokking GeoStudio

Are you re-typing the same functions over and over again for your analysis? Read Nate's blog and find out how you can create a database of common functions.

The Henry saltwater intrusion problem is considered the benchmark analysis for testing density-dependent groundwater flow models. Originally developed in 1964, a number of authors have proposed modifications to the problem. In particular, Simpson and Clement (2004) suggested that reducing the freshwater flux rate enhances the density-dependent effects; thereby improving the worthiness of the Henry problem as a benchmark analysis.

In this detailed example, both the standard and modified Henry saltwater intrusion problems are modeled using a density-dependent CTRAN/W analysis, and the results are compared to the semi-analytical solution.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the data file.

Density Dependent Flow (40 MB)

GeoStudio Technical Symposium

December 23, 2008 - Shenzhen, China.
Dr. Leonard Lam of GEO-SLOPE International will be speaking at a technical symposium in Shenzhen, organized by GEO-SLOPE's partner, CnTech Co. Ltd. The topic of his talk will be “Advanced Geotechnical Modeling with GeoStudio 2007”.

Focusing on the power of an integrated analysis, Dr. Lam will be using the GeoStudio 2007 software to illustrate, and demonstrate, the many different types of engineering problems that the software can be used to solve.

Please visit CnTech's web site for additional information and registration details.

Grokking GeoStudio

Part science and part black art, read Nate's recent blog on meshing efficiently.

Laboratory tests on stratified materials often reveal values for hydraulic conductivity that are anisotropic: different in the horizontal and vertical directions. However, anisotropic ratios from laboratory tests, when applied to field situations, can result in unrealistic solutions.

This detailed example addresses how to use the anisotropic feature in SEEP/W, and discusses the issues that can affect anisotropy.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the SEEP/W data file.

Anisotropy In Seepage Analyses (931 KB)

GeoStudio 2007 - 7.13 Release

Since our last release, we have been working on several important improvements to the software. As usual, version 7.13 is a free upgrade for all GeoStudio 2007 customers, but you may be asking, "why should I bother?" Here are just a few of the key improvements that we've made:

• Spatial functions can be linearly interpolated rather than kriged.
• Improvements to contouring spatial functions make the contours more accurate.
• Spatial functions can be previewed prior to being applied to regions.
• Verify now checks for overlapping geometry lines.
• Additional control over convex angles for fully-specified slip surfaces.
• The optimized factor of safety can no longer be larger than the critical slip surface.
• Include a potential seepage face above the elevation defined with a function.
• Better default values for certain convergence parameters.
• Spring Constant vs Displacement functions are once again supported.
• VADOSE/W now supports thermosyphons.

Plus more than 120 other improvements to the software!

Visit the Downloads page to update your software and read the release history for more details.

The Annual Geotechnical Modeling Workshop in Banff

With a full conference room of eager people and a brand new format, the 8th Annual Geotechnical Modeling workshop was definitely among the best we've ever held. Nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Banff Conference Centre was a perfect setting for attendees to learn, enhance and fine-tune their numerical modeling skills under the personal guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

Many thanks to all of the attendees, and the special group of people at GEO-SLOPE who helped to make the workshop such a great success! We are looking forward to next year's workshop and will post dates and locations when they become available.

Happy Birthday!

Grokking GeoStudio celebrates its first anniversary. Well done to Nate and the readers for reaching this significant milestone in the blogosphere.

The German Society for Geotechnics has worked on establishing some benchmark problems for validating numerical analyses. One of the benchmark examples is about the construction of a tie-back wall for a deep excavation in Berlin.

Part of the numerical validation program of the Society included holding an analysis competition where information about the project was made available to those wishing to model the construction and make a prediction of the wall performance. The lateral wall deflection was measured with an inclinometer and the main objective was to see if the analyst could predict the lateral wall deflection. The measured results were not made available to the analyst until the end of the competition.

SIGMA/W now has sufficient features and capabilities to simulate the construction sequence for this excavation, and obtains close agreement with the measured wall deflections.

Visit our web site for an in-depth review of the Berlin Tie-Back Wall.

Banff Geotechnical Modeling Workshop

The September workshop in Banff, Canada is almost full. Accommodations at the workshop location are limited, so if you are hoping to stay at the Banff Centre, reserve your seat now.

Remember that we have expanded the workshop to include an optional 4th day (September 18th). The format of this extra day will be flexible and will allow participants to choose from a series of concurrent specialized sessions on various topics.

Please visit the Banff Modeling Workshop page for full details.

Grokking GeoStudio

Check out the latest at the blog that dives into the details of GeoStudio, and leave a comment or question for Nate and other readers to respond to.

We have recently released a significant update to GeoStudio 2007. The version 7.1 release includes many features that had originally been slated to release with 7.00, as well as several important new features that have come about as a result of customer feedback.

As usual, 7.1 is a free upgrade for all GeoStudio 2007 users, but you may be asking, "why should I bother?"

Search Detailed Examples Online

All of our detailed examples on the Resource CD are available as searchable files for individual download from our web site. The key advantage is now you don't have to download the entire CD image, although it is still avalible if you prefer to have the complete set of examples on your own computer.

Just search online, scan the results for something of interest, and click "Open the gsz" to open it in GeoStudio. From GeoStudio you can choose File - Save As if you want to save a copy locally.

Most examples include a pdf describing the thinking behind the model. Some also include a movie generated by GeoStudio showing the computed results.

The online examples will be updated regularly, so check back often.

Banff Workshop

The upcoming workshop in Banff, Alberta, Canada is now 25% full. Register today to reserve your spot and avoid disappointment!

RSS Feed

The Direct Contact newsletter is now available as an RSS feed, which is what you are currently reading!

Nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains is a charming little mountain village called Banff. Just a 90 minute scenic drive or commuter shuttle from Calgary International Airport, the Banff Conference Centre is a perfect setting to learn, enhance and fine-tune your numerical modeling skills under the personal guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

The annual workshop has become a very popular event and has sold out well in advance of the workshop dates for the past number of years. Many clients have returned to the workshop year after year to continually enhance their modeling skills and to experiment with new types of analyses.

This year we are expanding the workshop to include an optional fourth day (September 18th). The format of this day will be flexible and will allow participants to choose from a series of concurrent specialized sessions on various topics. Space is limited, so register soon!

Permafrost Thawing and Deformation Study

Recently there has been a large amount of interest directed towards the potential effects of global warming on permafrost regions. One important aspect of the warming trend is: “What degree of deformation may be expected if historically frozen permafrost soils start to thaw”?

This process can now be modeled by coupling TEMP/W transient results with a load/deformation SIGMA/W analysis, in which the soil properties in an elastic-plastic constitutive model are applied using an Add-In which adjusts the soil cohesion in the frozen and unfrozen zones.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along using the GeoStudio 2007 data file.

Permafrost Thawing and Deformation (1.39 MB)

Grokking is Rocking!

Check out Grokking GeoStudio, the unofficial blog where Nate shares his favorite 'hidden features'.

Located in a beautiful wooded valley in the heart of Shropshire stands the World's First Iron Bridge. It's fitting that the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, which brought together innovation and engineering, will act as the setting to learn, enhance and fine-tune your numerical modeling skills under the professional guidance of GEO-SLOPE personnel.

The UK workshop has become a very popular event and has sold out well in advance as many clients have returned to the workshop year after year.

This year you can attend for a full three-day session or a shortened session with reduced content for two days. The two-day workshop will focus on SLOPE/W with introductory sessions on both SEEP/W and SIGMA/W. More advanced SEEP/W, SIGMA/W and introductory QUAKE/W sessions will be included on the third day.

Register Today!

Predicting Climate-Ground Interactions with VADOSE/W Basic

Landfill and mine waste cap design has typically been based on regulated design criteria, simple water balance modeling (e.g., HELP model), or semi-rigorous finite element or finite difference modeling (e.g., UNSAT-H, HYDRUS). These latter two models are rigorous from a seepage solution standpoint, but are limited in their ability to accurately predict the climate-ground interactions. VADOSE/W has been commercially available for seven years in a two-dimensional formulation but is now available in a one-dimensional Basic Edition formulation at a significantly reduced cost. VADOSE/W is unique in its formulation in that actual evaporation from a ground surface is based on the stress state in the soil; in particular the temperature and relative humidity and matric suction at the soil-climate interface.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the VADOSE/W data file.

VADOSE/W Basic Tutorial (836 KB)

Grokking GeoStudio

Functions don't have to be frustrating or mysterious. Read Nate's recent blog entry on Editing Functions in GeoStudio 2007.

The release of GeoStudio 2007 included the concept of conducting multiple analyses within a single project file. While this powerful new feature has opened up countless new possibilities for constructing your numerical models, it can be a little intimidating at first.

The key benefit of this new feature is that you can carry out parallel analyses that do not depend on each other in a single file. This ability enhances the numerical modeling process by encouraging you to experiment with different techniques and allowing you to vary many different parameters and easily compare results. Experimenting will help you to gain confidence and achieve a better understanding of what can be modeled with the software in future projects. To utilize the software effectively, it is helpful to know what can be changed for a specific analysis, and when the changes will affect all the analyses contained within the project file.

As a start, you may wish to begin by reading about global vs analysis objects in the Grokking GeoStudio blog.

GEO-SLOPE Now A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner

We are pleased to announce that GEO-SLOPE has achieved Gold Certified Partner status. As a Gold Certified Partner we have secured premier access to Microsoft that will enable us to build our expertise, and bring to you, our customers, continued excellence in our software applications and support resources.

This detailed example uses AIR/W to illustrate how the process of axis translation is used in pressure plates to measure the water content function, and how this can be modeled in GeoStudio 2007.

The volumetric water content function describes the capability of the soil to store and release water under changes in negative pore-water pressure or matric suctions.

Since water cavitates at relatively small negative pressures, there is a limit to the amount of negative pressure that can be applied to a soil in order to measure the volumetric water content function. With the axis translation technique, a soil sample is placed in a pressure plate apparatus and positive air pressure is applied to push water out of the soil sample as an alternative method to using negative pressures to suck the water out.

Some of the GeoStudio 2007 features that this detailed example highlights include: air pressure and water pressure coupling (Ua-Uw), water balance in a drying / wetting soil sample, and verification with known solutions.

Read the whole Detailed Example and follow along in GeoStudio 2007 using the AIR/W data file:

     Pressure plate cell wetting and drying (3.96 MB)

Merry Christmas!

As the holidays approach and we draw close to the end of another year, we at GEO-SLOPE would like to take this time to express our profound sense of gratitude. We are grateful for the team that we have assembled, and for the extraordinary things that we have been able to accomplish together. We are grateful for your supportive feedback, and for the opportunity to work with you and your organization to advance the practice of geotechnical engineering.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Grokking GeoStudio

Nate's blog has been exploring 'selection' the last few weeks. Get some tips on selecting objects, selecting in lists, and selecting data in graphs.