Groundwater Method
For each material in the Define Material Properties dialog, the Groundwater Method can be defined under the Water Parameters tab. The Groundwater Method determines the method of pore pressure calculation for a material. In Slide3, the Groundwater Method can be specified independently for each material. The following options are available:
- Water Surfaces
- Ru Coefficient
- Water Grids
Since the Groundwater Method can be specified independently for each material, this allows you to use different methods within the same model. For example, you could assign Water Surfaces to some materials, and Ru Coefficients or Water Grids to other materials, all within the same model, simply by assigning the desired method to the desired materials.
Water Surfaces
If the Groundwater Method = Water Surfaces then you can assign a water surface (e.g. water table, piezo surface) to a material. See the Water Surfaces topic for details.
Ru Coefficient
If the Groundwater Method = Ru Coefficient then you can assign an Ru coefficient to a material. See the Ru Coefficient topic for details.
Water Grids
If the Groundwater Method = Water Grids then you can assign a water pressure grid to a material (total head, pressure head or pore pressure). See the Water Pressure Grid topic for details.
Default Groundwater Method
In the Project Settings dialog, on the Groundwater page, you can choose the Default Groundwater Method. This allows you to pre-select the desired Groundwater Method for your model. Choosing the Default Groundwater Method simply sets the Groundwater Method for each material in the Material Properties dialog, to the selected method. However, you can still customize the Groundwater Method independently for each material, regardless of the default setting.
The purpose of the Default Groundwater Method is simply to allow you to pre-set the Groundwater Method for all materials to the most common method which is applicable to most or all materials in your model so that you do not have to select it for each material.