User’s Guide 1

PRECIS

This volume is the user’s guide toFLAC3D. This guide contains general information on the operationof FLAC3D for engineering mechanics computation.

Section 1gives an introduction to the capabilities and applications ofFLAC3D. An overview of thenew features in the latest version ofFLAC3D is also provided.

The first-time user should consultSection 2for an introduction to the operation ofFLAC3D. Theinstallation and operation procedures are given along with a simple tutorial to guide the new userthrough aFLAC3D analysis.

Section 3provides general guidance in the use ofFLAC3D in problem solving for static mechanicalanalysis for geotechnical engineering.

An introduction to the built-in programming language,FISH, is given inSection 4. This includesa tutorial on the use of theFISH language. Note that no programming experience is assumed.

Various items of interest toFLAC3D users are contained inSection 5, including aFLAC3D run-time benchmark on several different types of computers and procedures for reporting errors andrequesting technical assistance.

Section 6contains a bibliography of published papers describing some applications ofFLAC3D indifferent fields of engineering.

TheFLAC3D Manual consists of eleven documents. The following list of volumes, which comprisetheFLAC3D Manual, are available. (The titles in parentheses below are the names used to refer tothe volumes in the text.)

USER’S GUIDE — (User’s Guide)— an introduction toFLAC3D and its capabilities

COMMAND REFERENCE — (Command Reference)— descriptions of allFLAC3D commands

FISH in FLAC 3D — (FISH volume)— a complete guide toFISH as applied inFLAC3D

THEORY AND BACKGROUND — (Theory and Background)— thorough discussions of thebuilt-in features inFLAC3D

FLUID-MECHANICAL INTERACTION — (Fluid-Mechanical Interaction) — discussion ofthe formulation and examples of the groundwater flow model

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS — (Structural Elements)— descriptions for the six types of struc-tural elements inFLAC3D : beams, cables, piles, shells, liners and geogrids

OPTIONAL FEATURES — (Optional Features)— detailed descriptions of the optional features:thermal analysis, creep models, dynamic analysis and C++ user-defined models.

HEXAHEDRAL-MESHING PREPROCESSOR — 3DShop — (3DShop)— a user’s guide for3DShop, a hexahedral-meshing preprocessor forFLAC3D.

FLAC3D Version 3.0

2 User’s Guide

VERIFICATION PROBLEMS — (Verifications volume)— a collection of verification problems

EXAMPLE APPLICATIONS — (Examples volume)— a collection of example applications

COMMAND AND FISH REFERENCE SUMMARY — (Command and FISH Reference Sum-mary)— a quick summary of allFLAC3D commands andFISH statements

FLAC3D Version 3.0