Updated May 6, 2020.
This document provides the general summary of new features and important notes about the ZSoil® v2018 software product.
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.11
- Preprocessing
– resolved issue with removed nodes for meshing through morphing
– resolved issue with coping hinges and loads on shell elements when related subdomain is copied - Analysis
– resolved issue causing changing internal forces in shells during eigenvalue analysis
– corrected problem with in-plane flow for 2D interfaces - Postprocessing
– added detection of disconnected domains in MNT for continuum
– added detection of improper beam definition in MNT for continuum
– resolved issue with displaying results for Eigenmode driver
– resolved issue with exporting of pile interface results to ParaView
– added tensile soft + compression hardening option to plastic zones results
– corrected interpretation and management for plastic zones
– removed bottleneck in extremum calculation when group of elements was missing in selected time
- Virtual Lab
– Parameter Identification:
a. fixed problem of parameter identification locking for triaxial test with medium resolution data
b. scaling identified value sof the oedometric modulus to the user-defined reference stress
c. added a possibility of defining bounds on the power exponent m for numerical adjustments for triaxial tests
d. numerical adjustment extended to anisotropic consolidation tests
– Lab Test Simulation:
a. improved algorithm for reduction of experimental data points to avoid skipping characteristic points for unloading cycles
– Parameter Selection in Interactive mode:
a. fixed problem related to inability to determine stiffness moduli
– Databases of correlations:
a. modified correlations (see “Correlation database change log”)
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.08
- Preprocessing
– resolved issue with reordering nodes of thick shell element
– resolved issue with W6 subdomain meshing
– resolved issue with writing unloading function for interface element to DAT file - Virtual Lab
– Parameter Identification:
a. added a navigation toolbar for charts to improve efficiency of data inspection
b. added data exporting to template CSV file (initial state test variables, experimental data)
c. improved filtering and identification algorithms in the case of noisy experimental data for :
– dilatancy angle
– secant modulus at specified eps1 in the case of noisy experimental data
– stress variables and strength parameters
d. improved detection of unloading cycles for noisy experimental data
e. improved visual interpretation for dilatancy angle
f. added possibility of imposing a fixed cohesion intercept when identifying strength parameters from triaxial tests
g. E_oed_ref and sig_oed_ref assigned as identified if the numerical adjustment of E50 is applied
h. improved stats for parameters determined with the linear regressions analysis
i. handling experimental data import from ascii files containing UTF-8 BOM in the beginning
j. automatic detection of the inverse sign for imported volumetric stains for TX-CD
– Lab Test Simulation:
a. added a navigation toolbar for charts to improve efficiency of data inspection
b. added a data exporting to template CSV file (initial state test variables, experimental data, model parameters and numerical results)
c. added an automatic switching between non-linear solvers during simulation
d. added a possibility of reduction of experimental data in order to decrease number of computational steps in loading program
e. fix related to inability to activate e_max and f_t cutoffs
f. automatic parameter import from TX-CD or TX-CU for E_oed_ref and sig_oed_ref (if identified)
g. fix related to reading of user-defined loading programs
– Tools – Initial State Profiler
a. added a navigation toolbar for charts to improve efficiency of data inspection
b. added data exporting to CSV file
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.07
- Preprocessing
– resolved problem with deleting all points/nodes during merging points/nodes
– resolved problem with visible faces selection - Postprocessing
– plotting principal stresses/strains in layers shells has been corrected; eigenbases were not transformed back to the original shell system
– corrected visualization of MNT results integrated from continuum 3D
– resolved problem with exporting results for section planes when some sections are hidden
– export Armer-Wood moments and membrane forces to ParaView format - Virtual Lab
– In Situ Test Data:
a. fixed problem with updating parameters recalculated using the unit converter dialog
b. fixed display of the density parameter (rho) in the shear wave velocity dialog (SWV)
– Lab Test Simulation:
a. fixed problem with refreshing initial state variables when using Simulate All Checked option
b. minor improvements
– Material Data Input and Field Tests:
a. minor improvements in functionality
– Parameter identification:
a. added constrained optimization for numerical adjustment for m and Rf from triaxial tests
b. detection of irregularities in experimental data including automatic switch to constrained optimization for numerical adjustment for m and Rf from triaxial tests
c. data plotted in min/max ranges accounting for interpretation lines
d. fixed problem of parameter identification for noisy experimental data
e. removed problem related to inability to save a chart if no test was selected
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.06
- Preprocessing
– improved meshing for extruded subdomains
– new feature: setting parameters in front for interface elements
– resolved problem for the automatic generation of seepage elements on construction/excavation front
– resolved problem for the automatic split of nails/piles for models with no real mesh generated
– accelerating opening INP files for large-scale models with the mesh tying technique applied
– verification of duplicated interfaces in Data Verification - Analysis
– formatting of the resulting text file *.ths for large node groups has been corrected
– a sudden halt at the end of the stage with storing result option for nonlinear shells using the large displacement formulation has been corrected
– handling highly distorted thick shells is improved (in some cases computation was stopped and negative Jacobian was reported)
– resolved problem with infinite loop during stability runs, it required stopping by hand - Postprocessing
– resolved problem for opening models with heat radiation elements
– improved export to Paraview results in layers
– resolved problem with missing force component N-YY in user interface for MNT for membranes/axisymm. shells - Virtual Lab
– Material Data Input: fixed reading the reference vertical stress for the assumed deformation modulus
– parameter selection: a new estimation method for friction angle for cohesive soils from Standard Penetration Test (this is the new correlation for Interactive Selection and first order estimation in In Situ Test Data, see correlation database log)
– Parameter identification:
a. fixed dysfunctionality when running parameter interpretation for undrained triaxial tests using the numerical adjustment of E50
b. resolved problem related to inability to run parameter interpretation for oedometer test (regression with respect to v16)
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.05
- ZSoil Menu
– resolved problem with launching ZSwalls under Windows 10 - Analysis
– resolved issue with the sudden computation failure when running stability analysis and plastic damage model for concrete
– resolved issue with the local stability run in case of automatic nonlinear solver change (due to divergence of the iterative scheme) - Postprocessing
– improvements in envelopes for interfaces and structural elements - ZSwalls
– resolved problem with linking nails to the retaining wall
– resolved problem with intercepting the mesh tying surface by the fixed anchor zone - Virtual Lab
– Lab Test Simulation: removed problem related to reading and plotting numerical results when opening an existing project
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.04
- ZSoil Menu
– Dynamics – HHT modified default values for beta and gamma - Postprocessing
– Improvement in nodal results export for set of time instances in macro mode
– Time history of stress resultants in cross sections for shells/membranes (like in volumics) under option Export/Section/… has been added - Preprocessing
– Automatic split of nails/piles
– Corrections to reported problems - Virtual Lab
– A new configuration setup allowing the user to take control over the rounding precision of estimated parameters (number of significant decimal digits in function of number’s order of magnitude)
– Parameter Identification:
a. improved control over numerical adjustment of E50, Rf and m for triaxial test data
b. improved statistics calculations for numerically adjusted E50, Rf and m
c. preventing from assignment of negative value for stiffness exponent
d. resolved problem of inability to run numerical adjustment for triaxial compression test data without volumetric strain measurements
– Lab Test Simulation:
a. resolved problem of importing parameters from field test estimations
b. updating sample’s OCR when simulating triaxial tests based on real test data
c. preventing from sending OCR (being the state parameter of the sample in a numerical simulation of the triaxial test) to the User’s Selection
d. minor improvements
– Material Properties: in tool tip for moisture content, new typical values of water contents for soils in saturated state
– Removed problems related to simulating elementary lab tests with Mohr-Coulomb, Cap and Cam-clay models
– Removed problems related to reproducing loading programs of real test for the oedometric test in the Lab Test Simulation module
– Removed problems related to mismatching messages in the Lab Test Simulation module for ‘Simulate all checked’ option
– Removed problems related to data transfer after using Initial State and Stress Dependent Stiffness Migration tools
What’s New in ZSoil® 2018 v18.00 (Initial release)
- ZSwalls 2018 – diaphragm/sheet pile wall template
- Analysis of concrete structures subject to elevated temperatures
- Prestressed cables
- Analysis
– Saving restart point in a separate subdirectory at the final stage of a given driver
– Canceling results for diverged steps
– Switching to another nonlinear solver during run (on demand)
– Selection of a set of nonlinear solvers for the automatic control of computation - Postprocessing
– Extended failure/hardening/softening state analysis in continuum and layered structural elements
– Drawing principal strains in continuum (different modes)
– Drawing principal strains in layered shells and beams
– Time history of any selected quantity in layered structural elements
– Plotting time history with safety factor as an argument
– Time history of any selected quantity in layered structural elements
– Strains added to the output for layered structural elements
– Damage level added to the output - Preprocessing
– Automatic setting of existence functions for elements in excavation/construction front
– Automatic generation of seepage/convection elements on construction/excavation front
– Automatic generation of initial stresses on construction front
– Extrusion of Initial stresses/pressure/temperature superelements from 2D to 3D
– Accelerating generation of elements/nodes using translation, rotation and symmetry methods for large-scale models
– Accelerating opening INP file large-scale models - Virtual Lab
– Stress dependent stiffness (Hardening Soil Model):
a. including the second formulation for the stress dependent stiffness power law based on the mean stress, p (in addition to sig-3 formulation)
b. new visual assistant for migrating moduli and stiffness exponent between the two power law formulations
b. including the identification of stiffness moduli for mean stress-based power law in automatic and interactive parameter selection (new correlations HSREP18-2 and HSREP18-3)
c. enabling running elementary triaxial and oedometer tests using mean stress-based power law
– Initial Ko state – automatic Ko = KoNC*OCR^sin(phi) limited by the passive lateral earth pressure coefficient Kp
– Initial state profile tool:
a. representation a variable profile for Ko (meaningful for stress history through qPOP)
b. enabled copying (extracting) data from the table
– Parameter Identification: algorithms for triaxial test data receive an optimization technique for an exact identification of effective secant modulus, failure ratio and stiffness exponent
– Correlation database: added new correlations
– General improvements towards readability and user-friendliness
– Speed improvements due to runtime linking to 64-bit libraries