Options in FLAC are sold separately from the code license, allowing users to extend the program’s capabilities as meets their own analysis needs. Modules available as options for FLAC include: Dynamic, Creep, Two-Phase Flow, Thermal, and User-Defined C++ Constitutive Models.
DYNAMIC OPTION
Dynamic analysis can be performed with FLAC using the optional
dynamic calculation module. User-specified acceleration, velocity, or
stress waves can be input directly to the model either as an exterior
boundary condition or an interior excitation to the model. FLAC contains
absorbing and free-field boundary conditions to simulate the effect of
an infinite elastic medium surrounding the model. The dynamic
calculation can be coupled to the structural element model
(soil-structure interaction), to the standard groundwater flow model
(liquefaction), and to the optional thermal model.
CREEP OPTION
This option can be used to simulate the behavior of materials that exhibit creep (i.e., time-dependent material behavior).
There are nine available optional material models that simulate
viscoelastic and viscoplastic (creep) behavior: the classical
viscoelastic (Maxwell) model; a two-component power law; a reference
creep formulation (the WIPP model) implemented for nuclear waste
isolation studies; a Burger's creep viscoplastic model; a WIPP-creep
viscoplastic model; a ubiquitous viscoplastic creep model; a
crushed-salt constitutive model; a power-law viscoplastic creep with ubiquitous joints, and a NEW soft-soil creep model.
All nine models are available with the creep option. A FLAC grid can
be configured for both a creep calculation and a dynamic calculation.
However, both modes cannot be active simultaneously because of the
widely different timesteps.
TWO-PHASE FLOW OPTION
The two-phase flow option in FLAC allows numerical modeling of both
fluid-flow and fully coupled simulations (with optional capillary
pressure) of two immiscible fluids through porous media. The formulation
applies to problems in which a fluid displaces another, and
simultaneous flow of the two fluids takes place in the porous medium
with no mass transfer between them. This optional feature extends the
facility of the standard groundwater flow model.
THERMAL OPTION
The thermal analysis option in FLAC incorporates both the conduction
and advection models (conduction: transient heat conduction and the
development of thermally induced displacements and stresses; advection:
transport of heat by convection — it can simulate temperature-dependent
fluid density and thermal advection in the fluid). A thermal model can
be run independently or coupled to the mechanical stress calculation or
pore pressure calculation, either in static or dynamic mode.
C++ USER DEFINED CONSTITUTIVE MODEL OPTION
New constitutive models can be added to FLAC as DLLs that are written
and compiled in C++. The DLLs can be loaded in FLAC whenever needed,
via the MODEL load command, or automatically if they are placed in the “exe64\plugins\models” folder.
By implementing this optional feature, users can access new constitutive models from Itasca’s online UDM Library.
An advantage of these models is that they run at nearly the same speed
as built-in models, and noticeably faster than FISH constitutive models.
This option is required to both load and run UDM models.
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