The following is a listing of the major additions, changes and enhancements which have been made in the upgrade of Phase2 from version 6 to version 7.
Note: for a list of changes and bug fixes since the initial release of Phase2 version 7, see the Phase2 version 7 Update History page.
Liners
new reinforced concrete liner type, can define properties of reinforcement and concrete separately
reinforcement database for reinforced concrete liner type
support capacity plots for reinforced liners
for composite liners with a joint, the joint can now be placed between any two layers
pre-tensioning force can be defined for a standard beam liner
cable truss liner type
Joints
deterministic or statistical modeling of joint networks
parallel, cross-jointed, Baecher, Veneziano, Voronoi network models
define orientation, spacing, length, persistence, intensity
statistical distributions - normal, uniform, exponential, lognormal, Fisher
multiple joint sets per network
multiple networks
regenerate random network
ungroup / edit network
change joint end condition option allows you to change the end condition of any number of joints at the same time
groundwater pressure inside a joint can now be staged
Modeling
slope change tool
export Phase2 model to a Slide file
geometry cleanup option
simplify boundary option
expand / shrink external boundary
insert / delete stages at any stage of an existing model
import properties now allows selection of individual material types
stages tab in project settings to define number and naming of stages
automatic geometry cleanup after dxf import
faster dxf import for large files
SSR
SSR search area can now be defined as a general polygon
multiple SSR search areas can be defined
improved SSR algorithm to reduce computation time
Meshing
new option to improve discretization around very small line segments
new option to prevent discretization of arc or circle line segments, in order to improve the behaviour of liners on these boundaries (i.e. only allow one element per segment)
right-click on SSR search area to increase discretization or mesh density within search area
improvements to show mesh quality and define mesh quality options
faster meshing for large files
Groundwater
multiple water pressure grids can be defined to allow different grids for different stages or materials
groundwater pore pressure can be defined for an axisymmetric analysis
Material Properties
direct link from material properties dialog to RocData or RocLab to assist with input of material parameters
paste data from RocData or RocLab into material properties dialog
parameter calculator dialog for Generalized Hoek-Brown strength criterion
import properties now allows selection of individual material types
Support
updated Swellex bolts to give more realistic behaviour when faceplates are used and when pretension is applied
new formulation for tiebacks to produce more realistic behaviour, ungrouted section of the bolt is now anchored to grouted section rather than the mesh/rock
modeling of bolt-joint interaction - bolts crossing joints now resist movement through development of axial forces and a dowel effect
improved bolt-liner interaction for structural interface boundaries
secondary bond length for tieback bolts
tieback bolts can be defined as elastic or plastic
Analysis
new fast solver option (File > Preferences)
joint tension reduces joint stiffness (Project Settings > Stress Analysis)
reset yield flag option for staged material properties
if you abort the analysis, the compute engine will still write output files so results for stages computed prior to the abort will be available for viewing
improved memory management in compute engine allowing the computation of larger files and more files in batch mode
field stress vector loading option to apply a distributed load equal and opposite to the field stress, useful for tunnel lining design
Interpret
support capacity plots for reinforced liners
automatic saving/opening of drawing tools
queries, iso-lines and flow lines are saved with drawing tools when you save the Phase2 file
undo/redo for drawing tools, queries, iso-lines, flow lines
improved import / export of drawing tools, queries, iso-lines, flow lines
slip direction for joints (Interpret > Display Options)
Drawing Tools
drawing tools available in Phase2 modeler
drawing tools can be copied from model to interpret
modeler polyline and polygon tools can be imported and exported as DXF
polyline, polygon or pencil tools can be converted into model boundaries
material properties table tool
improved Add Text option (static and/or dynamic text)
queries, iso-lines and flow lines are saved when you save the drawing tools
tools can now be hidden individually or all
minor change to tools send to back/front option
undo/redo applies to drawing tools
Documentation
updated help system
new tutorials (#22 to #32)
new verification examples
Miscellaneous changes
popup messages to help identify incorrect input data in dialogs
default number of segments for arcs and circles increased from 20 to 40
default number of segments for import of arcs from DXF files increased from 16 to 40
SSR search area option removed from Project Settings, only available from Analysis menu
number of nodes and elements in mesh is now always displayed in status bar
name of Beam liner type changed to Standard Beam (to differentiate from the new Reinforced Concrete option)
new default values for mesh quality parameters (old values were too conservative)
liner numbers are no longer automatically displayed when you graph liner data
boundary colours and line width can be customized in display options
line width of bolts and liners can be customized in display options
toolbar buttons added for show mesh quality and contiguous mesh check
additional convert boundary options: excavation, polyline tool, polygon tool
read query / write query replaced by new import / export options
material queries now appear on all views, if multiple views are open
Previous Upgrades