Seequent states that the upgrades to its software allow geotechnical engineers to understand and tackle major engineering challenges for infrastructure and mining projects - from dams and levees to tunnelling and the stability of cuts in underground and open pit mines.

Paul Grunau, president of Seequent's GEOSLOPE, said GeoStudio Core 2021 is the most significant GeoStudio release in the past five years. "SIGMA/W has been completely redeveloped from the ground up, delivering new levels of confidence and capability for geotechnical engineers needing to assess ground deformations and stability.

"The new Strength Reduction Stability analysis in SIGMA/W complements the industry-trusted solutions in SLOPE/W to provide a rigorous understanding of slope failure mechanisms, allowing the engineer to design effective stabilization measures. These products integrate with SEEP/W to include the impact of changing groundwater conditions, providing a comprehensive solution for stability problems.

"The combined GeoStudio Core solution runs in a single integrated environment, speeding up the project workflow and easily scaling with the user's needs. All project data and analyses can be combined into a single project file, enabling smooth data exchange and simpler data management," stated Grunau.

Professor Soon-Hoe Chew, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, added: "GeoStudio 2021 can model a wide range of geotechnical problems encountered in practical projects that deal with stress and deformation of soil. For example, the hardening soil models can be confidently used to model the soft clay in Singapore, especially for excavation related problems.

"While engineers need to have a good understanding of the key issues at hand and the soil mechanics, SIGMA/W's well-formulated features and its logical flow of the modelling steps make it very easy to use with less chance of errors or oversight."

GeoStudio Core, with SIGMA/W's expanded material model library and new analysis types, allows for comprehensive modelling of a wider range of soil and rock behaviour. For example, simulating the strain-softening behaviour of brittle clays enables stability control of a tailings dam or roadway cut.

The new GeoStudio multi-physics solver enables SIGMA/W to offer improved solver performance and enhanced modelling of rapid reservoir drawdown, open pit mine dewatering effects on highwall stability, and solute transport from tailings ponds.

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