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Software Tutorials

FLAC3D 7.0 Plot Range Tutorial

This tutorial will show how to create and manipulate plot range elements in FLAC3D. Each plot-item in a plot may have one or more range elements that shows the portion which lies within the defined range, while removing from view the portion of the plot-item that lies outside it. Plot-item ranges may also be copied and applied to other plot-items.

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.

Fluid Flow through Jointed Rock

As well as flow through joints, 3DEC 5.2 is capable of simulating fluid flow through the blocks or the matrix (i.e., between the joints). It is assumed that the blocks represent a saturated, permeable solid, such as soil or fractured rock mass.

Technical Papers

Caving in the Fabian Orebody —from Mining Stope to Cave Crater in Malmberget

The Fabian orebody is a non-daylighting iron orebody in the LKAB Malmberget Mine in northern Sweden. During 2010, a prognosis of the cave development in the Fabian area was developed, based on compilation and analysis of all available material. In March 2012, a new cave crater formed on the ground surface above the Fabian orebody, similar to what was predicted. The prognosis is compared with observations of the caving and the differences and implications quantified. A program for continued monitoring of mining-induced deformation in Malmberget is also described and a criterion for allowable mining-induced surface deformations is proposed.

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.

FLAC3D mesh and zone quality

Mesh quality is crucial for the stability, accuracy, and fast convergence of numerical simulations. However, given the geometrical complexity of some models and the tools available for mesh creation, it is often necessary to accept meshes that deviate significantly from the known ideal shape.