The release of ITASCA Software version 9.6 represents a significant advancement for geotechnical engineering, introducing fully automatic remeshing in FLAC2D that addresses a fundamental limitation in modeling large, progressive deformations. This capability automatically rebuilds the computational mesh in regions that exceed user-defined strain thresholds during simulations of large displacements, excavation, or collapse, transferring data like stresses and displacements to maintain continuity. Jim Hazzard, ITASCA Software Manager, explains that this solves the problem where traditional fixed grids become distorted during excessive deformation, causing simulation failure or loss of accuracy, thereby enabling reliable simulation of complex phenomena involving massive strain.
For mining engineers, this advancement supports more robust risk assessments and long-term performance evaluations in complex geomechanical environments. Applications include modeling subsidence, progressive failure of open pits, backfill stability, and tunnel or cavern collapse, where remeshing maintains mesh quality, adapts to evolving geometry, and improves solution accuracy during large deformation, including the impact of ground pore pressure. In civil engineering, automatic remeshing is particularly valuable for differentiating between Ultimate Limit State and Serviceability Limit State, providing a complete picture of excessive deformations and their effects on construction, safety, and serviceability, benefiting analyses of active slope failure or tunnel face instability.
Beyond automatic remeshing, version 9.6 includes several other enhancements that extend modeling realism and workflow efficiency. The new Structural Concrete Constitutive Model allows engineers to assign concrete-specific behavior directly to structural elements like piles, beams, and liners for realistic soil-structure interaction. The inclusion of the Munson-Dawson Creep model, considered the gold standard for salt rock, accurately predicts primary and secondary creep stages essential for evaluating decades-long stability of evaporite mines, energy storage caverns, and nuclear waste repositories. A new circular shell generation tool automates creation of shell elements connected to piles, ensuring accurate contact area and volume displacement for complex foundation systems.
Hybrid solvers and large-strain solutions receive significant upgrades with MPoint coupling in beta, allowing FLAC3D and FLAC2D to be coupled with ITASCA's new Material Point Method solver for extreme deformation simulations. This hybrid approach streamlines material point generation and overcomes limitations of conventional large-strain modeling while balancing simulation performance. The updated Factor of Safety analysis logic now allows users to restrict Shear Strength Reduction to specific regions, permitting engineers to ignore localized bench instabilities and focus on critical, large-scale failure modes, reducing solve times and streamlining modeling.
Automated workflows and precision pre-processing tools further enhance productivity. Automated domain generation reduces model setup time from hours to minutes by automatically generating far-field zones around extruded, imported, or generated zones with seamless zone gradation. The enhanced sketch tool now allows specific coordinates to be designated as hard nodes to ensure mesh nodes are generated exactly at those positions, while the Joint-set Wizard accepts 3D dip/dip direction inputs and automatically converts them to the correct apparent dip. Additionally, 3DEC now supports fluid flow analysis through deformable grids imported from Griddle, allowing high-fidelity, unstructured meshes to utilize robust flow logic for seepage and pore-pressure analysis. To learn more about these advancements, visit itascasoftware.com.
