Learning

Customized Training

Customized Engineering Training Courses

Itasca Educational Partnership

ITASCA Academics

Software Tutorials

Homogeneous Embankment Dam Analysis (Part 2 of 3)

This FLAC 8.1 tutorial demonstrates how to conduct a steady-state seepage analysis to calculate the pore water pressures in the embankment due to the reservoir.

Generate a Hybrid Mesh by Combining Block Ranger and GVol

This tutorial will demonstrate a method to create a hybrid mesh of tetrahedral zones to model the rock mass and hexahedral zones to model a concrete liner. Hexahedral zones for the liner are preferred in order to more accurately capture plastic strains in this region. The meshing is done by utilizing the Itasca Griddle volume mesher plug-in for Rhino 3D. Importing the final mesh into FLAC3D, for future finite volume modeling, is also demonstrated.

3DEC 5.2 Introductory Webinar

This video is a recording of a one hour webinar reviewing the latest features in Version 5.2 of 3DEC. Presented by Dr. Jim Hazzard, 3DEC Product Manager and Lead Developer.

Technical Papers

GPR-inferred fracture aperture widening in response to a high-pressure tracer injection test at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden

We assess the performance of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method in fractured rock formations of very low transmissivity (e.g. T ≈ 10−9–10−10 m2/s for sub-mm apertures) and, more specifically, to image fracture widening induced by high-pressure injections. A field-scale experiment was conducted at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden) in a tunnel situated at 410 m depth. The tracer test was performed within the most transmissive sections of two boreholes separated by 4.2 m. The electrically resistive tracer solution composed of deionized water and Uranine was expected to lead to decreasing GPR reflections with respect to the saline in situ formation water.

A DFN–DEM Multi‑scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Tunnel Excavation Response in Jointed Rock Masses

Based on the concept of the representative elementary volume (REV) and the synthetic rock mass (SRM) modeling technique, a DFN–DEM multi-scale modeling approach is proposed for modeling excavation responses in jointed rock masses. Based on the DFN models of various scales, equivalent rock mass properties are obtained using 3DEC SRM models. A tunnel excavation simulation using data from the Äspö TAS08 tunnel is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed multi-scale modeling approach.

FLAC3D mesh and zone quality

Mesh quality is crucial for the stability, accuracy, and fast convergence of numerical simulations. However, given the geometrical complexity of some models and the tools available for mesh creation, it is often necessary to accept meshes that deviate significantly from the known ideal shape.