Support Overview

If some wedges do not meet the minimum Design Factor of Safety, then you will want to determine the support requirements necessary to achieve the Design Factor of Safety for all wedges.

In UnWedge there are three different types of support which can be applied: bolts, shotcrete and pressure.

• Bolts: Either pattern or Spot Bolts can be applied, and several commonly used bolt types are explicitly modelled (e.g., anchored, grouted dowel, cable bolt, etc.). Multiple Bolt Patterns can be applied on the perimeter.
• Shotcrete: One or more layers of shotcrete can be applied anywhere on the excavation boundary. The shotcrete layers have user-defined thickness and strength.
• Pressure: Support can also be modelled as a uniform pressure, applied anywhere on the boundary. The pressure option can be used to simulate the equivalent applied load of any type of support system.

Any or all of these support types can be applied to a given model, in any combination.

Adding/Editing Support

Support can be applied to the Perimeter of the excavation and to the Ends. To simplify the modelling, the application of Perimeter Support and End Support is done separately, in two different views:

• Perimeter Support can only be added in the Perimeter Support Designer View.
• End Support can only be added in the End Support Designer View.

When you select a view, the applicable options for defining the support will be available from the Sidebar or the Support menu.

Support Properties

Support properties (Bolt Properties or Shotcrete Properties) can be defined while viewing either the Perimeter Support Designer View or End Support Designer View. The properties are common to all supports defined on the model and do not depend on the view.