Slide FAQs

Below you will find answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Slide. If you cannot find an answer to your question or problem after reading the FAQs:

1. Try the Search feature on this Help system.

2. Contact Rocscience technical support at support@rocscience.com

FAQs

(click on the question to read the answer)

1. The program is not behaving correctly. It either doesn't start, crashes all the time, or doesn't work as defined in the manual. What's wrong?

   If you are getting errors and you're running an older operating system (Windows 9x/NT), then the reason is most likely to do with an incompatibility between Rocscience software and older operating system files. Rocscience software requires up to date operating system files in order to run properly. As a rule, Rocscience does NOT change or alter your operating system files and puts the onus on you to maintain up to date operating system software.

   This problem can easily be fixed by downloading the latest Microsoft system file updater from our website: http://www.rocscience.com/downloads/general/vcredist.exe

   Download the file by clicking on the above link. Save the vcredist.exe file to your computer and then run it. Follow the directions.

   Note: It is always advisable to make a backup before installing software that modifies system files.

2. I'm getting an error in the Interpreter stating that the output file is older than the input file and I must rerun the compute module. How do I prevent this?

   When Interpret is loading, it looks at the date on the input file that is written by the Modeler (the *.sli file) and the date on the results file that is written by Compute (the *.s01 file). Interpret makes sure that you are not looking at out-of-date results, by making sure the results file is younger than the input file. If this is not the case, you will get an error message.

   What you may have been doing is pressing Save in the modeler (after you pressed compute, but before you pressed Interpret).

   ** Any time you press Save in the modeler, you have to run Compute, before you can use Interpret.

   ** If are you saving these files (or running compute) on another computer (e.g. a network server), then you must make sure the time is the same on both computers (you can get an atomic-clock synchronization program from www.atomtime.com).

3. How can I display the model coordinates? How can I obtain a list or printout of the model coordinates?

   In the Slide Model program, you can use the Show Coordinates option in the View menu to display the x-y coordinates of boundaries and other model entities (e.g. support).

   When coordinates are displayed, if you then go to the Info Viewer you will see a listing of the displayed coordinates at the bottom of the Info Viewer (scroll down to see the list). You can copy the data from the Info Viewer and paste into other applications. See the Show Coordinates topic for further information.

4. How can I view detailed slice information for slip surfaces other than the Global Minimum slip surface?

   Run the analysis using the Maximum Data Output option in Project Settings. This will save detailed analysis results for all calculated slip surfaces. You will then be able to query any slip surface for detailed results in the Slide Interpret program. See the Data Output topic for more information.

5. How can I delete or move a water table boundary which exactly overlaps another boundary (e.g. a material boundary). When I try to edit the water table, both boundaries get selected.

   Use the Selection Filter option. This allows you to choose which boundaries can be selected for editing purposes. For example:

   1. After you have selected an editing option (e.g. Delete Boundary or Move Vertices), right-click the mouse and choose Selection Filter from the popup menu.

   2. Use the checkboxes in the dialog to choose which boundary types can be selected (e.g. Water Table). Select OK.

   3. Now you can select and edit only the desired boundary type(s), without affecting other boundaries which may be overlapping or adjacent.

   TIP: you can also RIGHT-CLICK directly on a Water Table and select Move Boundary or Delete Boundary from the popup menu, to move or delete the entire Water Table without affecting other boundaries. (If you want to edit individual vertices which overlap another boundary, then you must use the Selection Filter option.)

6. How can I model an impermeable (zero permeability) material for a finite element groundwater seepage analysis? For example, an impermeable sheet pile wall.

   A material with zero permeability (Ks = 0) cannot be explicitly modeled in a Slide seepage analysis. If you specify a zero permeability material, this will cause numerical problems with the finite element analysis, and must be avoided.

   However, an impermeable material can be simulated simply by specifying a very low value of permeability Ks. For example, if you specify a permeability which is several orders of magnitude smaller than the surrounding materials (e.g. 1e-20 m/s), then this will effectively simulate a zero permeability material. The flow through the low permeability material will be negligible, compared to the flow through the surrounding, higher permeability material.

   In a future version of Slide, an explicit zero permeability material or boundary condition may be added for the finite element seepage analysis. However, in the mean time, the above suggested method works very well, and is also very simple to model.

   For a tutorial which illustrates this method (for sheet pile walls in a cofferdam), see Tutorial 14 - Cofferdam Seepage.

7. How can I measure the flow volume of groundwater for a finite element seepage analysis?

   To compute groundwater flow volume, define a Discharge Section. After you compute the analysis, the flow volume through the Discharge Section will be displayed in the Slide Interpret program. For more information see the Add Discharge Section topic.

   For a tutorial which illustrates the use of Discharge Sections see Tutorial 14 - Cofferdam Seepage.

8. How can I display a flow net after a groundwater seepage analysis?

   To display a flow net after a seepage analysis:

   1. View the Total Head contours.

   2. In the Contour Options dialog, select the Filled (with lines) contour mode. This will highlight the equipotential lines of the flownet.

   3. Use the Add Multiple Flow Lines option to display the groundwater flow lines.

   For a tutorial which illustrates the display of a flow net, see Tutorial 14 - Cofferdam Seepage.

9. I'm having trouble importing DXF files into Slide. Do you have any suggestions for making DXF import easier?

   See the Import DXF topic for complete details about importing DXF files and troubleshooting problems with DXF import.