The following is a listing of the major additions, changes and enhancements which have been made in the upgrade of RocSupport from version 2 to version 3.
For a list of changes and bug fixes since the initial release of RocSupport version 3, see the RocSupport version 3 Update History page.
The calculation of equivalent Mohr-Coulomb rock mass strength parameters from Hoek-Brown parameters now uses the latest equations presented in Hoek, E., Carranza-Torres, C. and Corkum, B. (2002).
The Carranza-Torres solution for the Ground Reaction Curve is updated with the latest 2004 method. The Young’s modulus can now be entered explicitly as an input parameter rather than being automatically calculated from strength parameters. Residual strength parameters can also be defined (Carranza-Torres, C., (2004)).
For the Carranza-Torres solution, the user now has the choice of specifying the peak strength parameters in one of two ways: using GSI, mi, and D, or directly in terms of mb, s and a. Residual parameters are always specified using mb, s and a.
Old assist dialogs for Young's modulus and Compressive Strength have been replaced with a single Hoek-Brown Parameter Calculator dialog.
The Long Term Ground Reaction Curve can now be plotted, by specifying a long-term strength reduction factor. The reduction factor is applied to the rock mass compressive strength and to Young’s modulus. Analysis results (e.g. safety factor of support) are now available for both the short term and long term ground reaction curves.
A custom Longitudinal Deformation Profile (LDP) function can now be defined. The function is used to calculate the convergence of the tunnel at support installation, when the support installation is specified as distance from tunnel face. Previously the user was limited to a built-in default function which was always used. The default function is still available, but the user now has a choice of using the default function or a user-defined function.
A tunnel profile icon is displayed on the Ground Reaction View to help visualize the distance from face of the support installation. The icon is interactive - the position of the support installation can be graphically edited by clicking and dragging with the mouse. This will automatically update the position of the support reaction curve with respect to the ground reaction curve, on the Ground Reaction View.
In the Ground Reaction View, a marker line can be displayed showing the position of the tunnel face with respect to tunnel convergence (if support installation is specified as distance from face).
Users can now directly specify tunnel convergence (or deformation), instead of distance from face, to define the position of support installation. With this method, the Longitudinal Deformation Profile function is not used.
Scatter Plots can now be plotted. Any two random variables (input or output) can be plotted on a Scatter Plot to show the correlation (or lack of correlation) between the two variables. A best fit linear regression line is calculated and can be displayed.
Custom user variables can be defined and plotted on Histogram, Cumulative, and Scatter plots. Any function of input and/or output variables can be created to define a custom variable.
Tunnel Radius, Poisson's Ratio, and Disturbance Factor can now be defined as random variables. Previously these variables were always deterministic (i.e. statistical distributions could not be defined).
For probabilistic data input, the Tunnel and Rock Parameters dialog has been changed to a grid layout. This makes the data entry of probabilistic input parameters much easier. It is also easier to see at a glance which variables have been defined as random variables, and which variables are deterministic (i.e. no statistical distribution).
Lognormal and Gamma distributions can now be defined for random variables (in addition to Normal, Uniform, Triangular, Beta and Exponential distributions).
The number of decimal places and number format for the display of results is now user-configurable in the Display Options dialog.
When opening a file, the default view is now the Ground Reaction View rather than the Tunnel Section View. The initial view can be configured by the user in the Preferences dialog in the File menu.
All input variables in the Tunnel and Rock Parameters dialog (deterministic analysis) are in one place instead of being separated into two tabs.
More ways to customize plots: fonts, colors, grid, border, axes. Info Viewer font size can be changed.
Improvements to menu layouts (e.g. View menu), including more right-click menu short-cuts.
New browser-based Help system. All documentation is now in electronic format. The User's Guide (Tutorial Manual) is now in PDF format, which can be printed, as the paper manual is no longer provided.
Context sensitive Help "?" button is now available in all main dialogs. Selecting the "?" button in a dialog will take you directly to the appropriate topic in the Help system.
When the Tunnel and Rock Parameters dialog and the Support Parameters dialog are both open, the maximum support pressure is now properly updated, if the tunnel radius is changed.
Probabilistic Analysis - statistical distributions for each input random variable were being generated with the same random number sequence. All input random variable distributions are now generated using different random number sequences.
Info Viewer no longer provides information whether an input variable was calculated from other parameters using one of the assist dialogs.