Learning

Software Tutorials

PFC 7 Creation of a Synthetic Rock Mass (SRM) Specimen

This tutorial will guide you through how to create a fractured Synthetic Rock Mass (SRM) specimen.

Bonded Block Model with Cable Ground Support

Cable elements in 3DEC may be assigned a tensile yield force limit and an axial rupture strain in order to simulate cable rupture. 3DEC can also simulate the shearing resistance along the cable length between the grout and either the cable or the host material.

Plotting 3D Isosurfaces

This tutorial demonstrates how you can add isosurfaces to your 3D Itasca model plots.

Technical Papers

Use of 3DEC to Study Spalling and Deformation associated with Tunnelling at Depth

PFC (Particle Flow Code): Rock Cutting Excerpt

Historical development and engineering applications using PFC2D and PFC3D.

Connectivity, permeability, and channeling in randomly distributed and kinematically defined discrete fracture network models

A major use of DFN models for industrial applications is to evaluate permeability and flow structure in hardrock aquifers from geological observations of fracture networks. The relationship between the statistical fracture density distributions and permeability has been extensively studied, but there has been little interest in the spatial structure of DFN models, which is generally assumed to be spatially random (i.e., Poisson). In this paper, we compare the predictions of Poisson DFNs to new DFN models where fractures result from a growth process defined by simplified kinematic rules for nucleation, growth, and fracture arrest.