Recent content by kwalton

I suspect that cdstan has bought the software by now. However, I have used SLIDE and SLOPE/W and both seem to have similar features but sometimes dealt with in different ways, e.g. anisotropic strength functions, and one method may be preferable to the other depending on your requirments...

I have found the same problem but have found the company quite helpfull. If language is a problem, they do have a guy with a good command of english.

Thanks for that. I have an open topped tank with pipe inlet at half bore and the outlet pipe is acting as an overflow so is flowing out under gravity at about half bore. I have got Manning's formula but can you help me with the following: Roughness - In a reference I have this can vary from...

I am trying to determine the gravity flow out of an oil imterceptor tank. Water is flowing out of the tank through a 50mm diameter pipe and the pipe is about half full. Is there acalculation I can do along the lines of that for a v-notch wier to calculate the approximete rate of flow.

I have also used Hoek-Bray method using Roclab (also downloadable from the "Rocscience" site)to good effect, giving what I judged to be realistic mohr-coulomb parameters in weak fragmented rock.

To gamadot: The problem is just the same whether you are undertaking Finite Element or Limit Equilibrium analysis. You have to decide on realistic strength & density parameters to start with and go with those unless you are undertaking probability analysis. You need to consider the nature of...

That will depend on the software. I have been using Phase2 (Rocscience) and my version does not do SRF automatically. I have to work out c & phi for each run then change the Mohr Coulomb parameters each time. I understand that the next version of the software will incorporate automatic...

There's a paper on this subject in the UK Institute of Civil Engineers "Geotechnical Engineering", October this year - Just out

I would like to pick up a point that Smokeybear hinted upon, particularly with regard to non-circular failure. In LE methods we have to define a critical surface and then analyse that. In other words we have to decide on the critical surface before we run the analysis. Yes, we can (and...

I have been giving some more thought to Focht3's comments re the location of the critical surface and conclude that these comments apply equally to limit equilibrium analysis. In plastc FE analysis, you are generating the potential failure surface, not the critical failure surface. With limit...

Professor Doug Stead at Simon Fraser University BC has published some papers on this subject wrt forestry works. They are listed on his web page at the university.

Before I get pulled up, yes, I have just realised that I refered to the "failure surface" when Focht3 refered to the "critical surface".

Bit of a put down from Focht3 & BigH! wenandsky88 was asking for the technique and I have explained it, (perhaps not as well as I might have). With regard to changing the location of the failure surface, assuming that the slope is stable, there will be no failure surface anyway at the input...

I am not familiar with the FE programme you are using. However, I use Phase2 from Rocscience so can tell you how it is done in that software. I presume you are using Mohr Coulomb strength parameters c & phi. (Phase also allows the use of Hoek-Brown parameters) The material type needs to be...

I use Roclab too and it's a great bit of free software. River Lode goes back a long way, before Prof Jennings & Oskar Steffen were involved and there probably wasn't much design information anyway. I was Senior Soils Engineer at Nchanga 1975-1979, about the time River Lode was being filled in...