Applicable Industries
- Buildings
- Construction & Infrastructure
Use Cases
- Onsite Human Safety Management
- Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is Tierra Group, a provider of geotechnical, water resources, civil, environmental, and geological hazards engineering. They are experts in their field and are often faced with complex engineering projects that require innovative solutions. In this particular project, they were tasked with analyzing the corner of an earth dam retaining structure in highly variable soil conditions. The complexity of the project and the specific challenges they faced required them to seek out advanced technological solutions.
The Challenge
Tierra Group, a provider of geotechnical, water resources, civil, environmental, and geological hazards engineering, was faced with a complex slope stability project involving highly variable soil conditions. The project required the analysis of the corner of an earth dam retaining structure. The challenge was twofold. Firstly, the structure of a corner or a turn in the earth dam needed to be incorporated into the analysis. Secondly, the varying geo-strata beneath the foundation of the engineered earth dam structure posed a significant challenge. The combination of these two aspects made applying 2D analysis extremely difficult and ineffective for the project.
The Solution
To overcome these challenges, Tierra Group turned to 3D analysis using Bentley’s PLAXIS LE software. The data was first imported into Bentley’s PLAXIS Designer to manage the pinch-outs from the collected real-world data. This software helped the team to develop a properly formed 3D conceptual model of the site. With the 3D model built, the analysis of the stability portion of the dam could proceed in the PLAXIS LE software. Tierra Group identified the slip direction close to the corner, which produced the minimum factor of safety by using the orientation analysis in PLAXIS LE. The resulting analysis also highlighted the interplay between the engineered structure and the geo-strata in the foundation, which had the potential to affect the factor of safety calculation in 3D.
Operational Impact
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