Dear Itasca friends,

Itasca breaks new ground for all FLAC3D and 3DEC users : a brand new product named Griddle today replaces Kubrix Geo. Griddle is a state-of-the-art Grid Generation Software for engineers, that effectively removes the "meshing bottleneck". The modelling workflow becomes seamless from geometry specification to numerical simulation.
A new pricing policy comes in effect now, offering a greater accessibility to our software. Our software team is at your disposal to answer your questions.

The European Itasca team

Consulting

Fig. 1 - Faults and stratigraphy	Fig. 2 - Stratigraphical column and coal seams
The model has been calibrated with the subsidence measurements of nearby panels. Figure 3 shows the location of the calibration panels and Figure 4 shows the subsidence troughs of the different calibration hypothesis, together with the measured profile.
Fig. 3 - Location of the calibration panels	Fig.4 - Subsidence troughs of the calibration process
The location of the new panels under analysis is shown in Figure 5. The calculated subsidence trough is presented in Figure 6; potential damage to the buildings of the village was also evaluated using the tilt and horizontal strain at surface calculated by the model.
Fig.5 - Location of the panels under analysis	Fig.6 - Final subsidence trough

Modelling a concrete slab on a rigid-inclusion-reinforced-soil In the context of a wine cellar extension project, a 20cm thick concrete slab is to be constructed on a soil reinforced by rigid inclusions. Itasca France has been called by the design office to verify the mechanical resistance of the concrete slab and assess its settlement under a uniform load. The inclusions will be installed in a regular pattern. A 2D FLAC axisymmetric model represents the "unit cell". This model considers one inclusion, the different geological layers surrounding it, and the slab on top. The successive construction steps are taken into account: initial state, excavation of the upper layers, installation of the rigid inclusion (C16/20), refilling of the excavation with a gravel bed to the design level, casting of the concrete slab (C30/37) and application of the uniform pressure.		Fig.1 : 2D axisymmetric model of concrete slab on reinforced soil
The study mainly shows a uniform settlement of the slab under the design load. The differential settlement is negligible (Fig. 2). Using the full stress field in the concrete slab (Fig. 3), stress resultants (Fig. 4) were computed and verified against strength envelopes given by Eurocode 2. The slab thickness is largely sufficient to sustain the applied load. Also, the normal load in the rigid inclusion - at most 80 kN - is largely below the threshold given by Eurocode 2 (130 kN).
Fig.2 : Vertical displacement contour (m)	Fig.3 : Minimum principal stress contour(Pa) in the concrete slab	Fig.4 : Distribution of the bending moment (in kN.m/m) along the concrete slab

Software

Training & Seminars

Conferences

Itasca and/or representative will be attending the following conferences:

Recent Publications

Mäkitaavola, K., B-M Stöckel, J. Sjöberg, S. Hobbs, J. Ekman, M. Henschel and A. Wickramanyake – (2016) "Application of InSAR for Monitoring Deformations at the Kiirunavaara Mine". In: Proceedings ISMS 2016, 3rd International Symposium on Mine Safety, Science and Engineering (Montreal, Canada, Aug 15–17, 2016), Paper No. 250.

Perman, F., T. Wettainen, C. Gonzalo and J. Sjöberg – (2016) "Three-dimensional modeling and stress calibration for a complex mining geometry". In: Proceedings RS2016, 7th International Symposium on In-Situ Rock Stress (Tampere, Finland, May 10-12, 2016), pp. 127–138. ISBN 978-951-758-606-1.

Lope Álvarez, D., J. Sjöberg, M. Eriksson, R. Bertilsson, D. Mas Ivars – (2016) "Tunnelling and reinforcement in heterogeneous ground – A case study". In: Proceedings Eight International Symposium on Ground Support in Mining and Underground Construction (Luleå, Sweden, September 12-14, 2016), Paper No. 193.

Vatcher, J., S. D. McKinnon and J. Sjöberg (2016) – "Developing 3-D mine-scale geomechanical models in complex geological environments, as applied to the Kiirunavaara Mine", in Engineering Geology, Vol 203, pp. 140–150 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2015.07.020)

J. J. Oetomo, E. Vincens, F. Dedecker, J-C. Morel (2016) - "Modeling the 2D behavior of drystone retaining walls by a fully discrete element method", in Int. Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, to publish