Previous ZSoil Day presentations

Numerics in Geotechnics and Structures

Explore selected ZSoil Day contributions from 2007–2025, bringing together practical case studies, modelling methods and research in geotechnical and structural engineering.

Explore engineering insights from the ZSoil community by year or by topic relevant to your next modelling challenge.

Browse by Year

Revisit previous ZSoil Day programmes and access the presentations
available for each edition. To explore contributions across
different years, browse the topics below.

Applications

Find practical case studies on foundations, deep excavations, retaining walls, slopes, tunnels, dams and transport infrastructure.
Explore how engineers use ZSoil to predict settlements and deformations, assess stability, investigate failures and design structural and energy geostructures.

FOUNDATIONS & SETTLEMENTS

Case studies on foundation bearing response, settlement and soil–structure interaction in high-rise buildings, bridge abutments and industrial structures. Topics include raft stiffness, piled-raft behaviour, working platforms, liquefaction and building rectification.

DEEP FOUNDATIONS

Design and assessment of piles, barrettes and ground-improvement columns, from installation effects to load testing and settlement prediction. The collection also covers embedded-element formulations, slope-stabilising pile systems and thermally activated foundations.

FAILURE ANALYSIS & FORENSIC ENGINEERING

Numerical investigations of structural and geotechnical failures, including collapsed tunnels, retaining walls, buildings and landslides. These case studies examine failure mechanisms and the assumptions needed to reconstruct observed behaviour.

DEEP EXCAVATIONS

Practical analysis of deep excavations and their effects on nearby buildings, railways and tunnels. Topics include diaphragm walls, construction sequences, large-scale 3D models and the use of monitoring, Bayesian calibration and AI to improve predictions.

2017
PDF

Large scale modeling and simulations with ZSoil

R. Obrzud

Karakas & Francais SA and Rafal Obrzud Ing. Conseil; ZACE Services, Switzerland

A. Truty, Krzysztof Podles

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland

RETAINING WALLS

Stability, deformation and structural assessment of retaining systems, including diaphragm walls, soldier-pile walls and anchored structures. Case studies address installation effects, drainage, creep, seismic strengthening and calibration against measured wall movements.

SLOPES & LANDSLIDES

Slope stability and landslide assessment under rainfall, seepage and variable ground conditions. Contributions cover probabilistic analysis, deformation prediction, dewatering and stabilisation using piles or other remedial measures.

TUNNELS & UNDERGOROUND STRUCTURES

Case studies and modelling methods for tunnels, caverns and cut-and-cover structures. Topics include excavation-induced movements, lining response, ground improvement, seepage, collapse investigations and interaction with neighbouring excavations.

DAMS

Assessment of concrete and earth dams under static, seismic, thermal and seepage loading. Case studies address existing cracks, dam heightening, slope stability and the representation of damping in dynamic simulations.

ROADS & TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

Geotechnical and structural analysis of roads, railways, bridges and viaducts. Contributions address excavation near transport infrastructure, slope protection, bridge foundations and comparisons between predicted and measured movements.

2025

Numerical analysis of historic masonry arch viaduct

F. Pachla, K. Podles, A. Urbanski

Cracow University of Technology, Poland

Presentation link not available.

ENERGY GEOSTRUCTURES

Thermal design of energy piles and barrettes, borehole heat exchangers and ground heat storage. Contributions connect field testing with numerical simulations, transient thermal response and thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling.

2009
PDF

Ground heat storage pre-dimensioning

S. Commend

GeoMod ing. conseils SA, Switzerland

D. Pahud

SUPSI, Switzerland

J.C. Hadorn

Base Consultants SA, Switzerland

C. Cornu

Bonnard+Gardel SA, Switzerland

DEBRIS FLOWS & MUDSLIDES

Numerical simulation of moving mud and debris mixtures, with an emphasis on large movements and two-phase flow formulations. These contributions include Lagrangian methods for representing the motion of soil and water.

STRUCTURAL MODELLING

Nonlinear modelling of concrete, masonry and timber structures, including connections, tunnel linings, bridges and diaphragm walls. Topics include soil–structure interaction, cracking, creep, elevated temperatures and structural condition assessment.

2025

Numerical analysis of historic masonry arch viaduct

F. Pachla, K. Podles, A. Urbanski

Cracow University of Technology, Poland

Presentation link not available.

2016
PDF

Creep and aging in nonlinear models for concrete

A. Truty

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland

T. Zimmermann

ZACE Services, Switzerland

K. Podles

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland

J. Szarlinski

Prof. em., Cracow University of Technology, Poland

Methods & Modelling

Explore how to build, calibrate and assess numerical models. Find presentations on constitutive models and parameter determination, dynamics and earthquakes, groundwater and coupled processes, probabilistic analysis and risk.
Discover workflows for model creation and automation, alongside methods for using measurements to refine and validate predictions.

CONSTITUTIVE MODELS & PARAMETER DETERMINATION

Material formulations and parameter determination for soils, rocks, concrete, masonry and interfaces. Topics include small-strain stiffness, creep, damage, thermal effects, laboratory-based calibration and user-defined constitutive models.

2025

Practical experience with the AHS-Brick model in ZSoil

M. Cudny, K. Lisewska

Gdansk University of Technology, Poland

A. Zachodni

Keller Polska, Poland

A. Truty

Cracow University of Technology, Poland

Presentation link not available.

2016
PDF

Creep and aging in nonlinear models for concrete

A. Truty

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland

T. Zimmermann

ZACE Services, Switzerland

K. Podles

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland

J. Szarlinski

Prof. em., Cracow University of Technology, Poland

DYNAMICS, EARTHQUAKES & PUSHOVER ANALYSIS

Dynamic and seismic analysis of geotechnical and structural systems, from buildings and dams to tunnels and transport infrastructure. Contributions cover time-history simulation, damping, blast loading, vibration isolation, liquefaction and pushover assessment.

GROUNDWATER & COUPLED PROCESSES

Groundwater flow and its interaction with deformation, stability and heat transfer. Topics include dewatering, consolidation, unsaturated behaviour, drainage and hydro-mechanical or thermo-hydro-mechanical analysis of foundations, excavations, tunnels, slopes and dams.

PROBABILISTIC ANALYSIS, RELIABILITY & RISK

Methods for representing uncertainty and evaluating reliability in geotechnical design. Contributions cover random fields, Bayesian inversion, surrogate models and rare-event estimation, alongside applications to slopes and excavations and a broader perspective on disaster risk.

MONITORING, BACK ANALYSIS & MODEL CALIBRATION

Using laboratory tests, field measurements and observations to identify parameters, calibrate models and assess prediction quality. Applications include excavation movements, pile load tests, structural condition assessment, wind modelling and thermal response tests.

MODELLING METHODS, TOOLS & AUTOMATION

Numerical methods and practical workflows for building and running ZSoil models. Contributions cover embedded elements, limit-load estimation, large-scale simulations, spatial data, geometry and mesh preparation, parameter-identification tools, Python, AI and software developments.

2022
PDF

ZSoil on KUBE

F. Hofmann, S. Rumley, C. Buchs, J. Minini, B. Wolf

HEIA Fribourg, Switzerland

2017
PDF

Large scale modeling and simulations with ZSoil

R. Obrzud

Karakas & Francais SA and Rafal Obrzud Ing. Conseil; ZACE Services, Switzerland

A. Truty, Krzysztof Podles

Cracow University of Technology, Poland; ZACE Services, Switzerland