Introducing Phase2

Phase2 is a 2-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element program for calculating stresses and displacements around underground openings, and can be used to solve a wide range of mining, geotechnical and civil engineering problems, involving: Excavations in rock or soil Multi-stage excavations (up to 300 stages) Elastic or plastic materials Multiple materials Bolt support Liner support (shotcrete / concrete / piles / geosynthetics) Constant or gravity field stress Jointed rock / construction joints Plane strain or axisymmetry Groundwater (piezo lines, ru values or finite element seepage analysis) Finite element slope stability Probabilistic analysis and much more ... The Phase2 program consists of 3 program modules: Model, Compute and Interpret.

Starting a New Project

To start creating a new project with Phase2, select the New option from the toolbar or the File menu. A new blank project window will be opened, in which you can start creating your model. There are two things you will generally need to do before you start entering your model boundaries: 1. Select Project Settings from the toolbar or the Analysis menu. Various analysis and model parameters are set in the Project Settings dialog. In particular, if your model is staged you should set the Number of Stages before you proceed further, as this affects the availability and operation of certain modeling options. 2. Select Limits from the View menu, to set the initial limits of your drawing region.

Opening a File
To open an existing Phase2 file: 1. Select Open from the toolbar or the File menu. 2. You will see a Windows Open file dialog. Phase2 files have a .fez filename extension. Select the .fez file you want to work with, and it will be opened in Phase2.

Stage Tabs
If you are working with a multi-stage model, the Stage Tabs allow you to view and edit the model at each stage. The number of stages is defined in the Project Settings dialog. The Stage Tabs appear at the lower left of the application window. To view any stage: 1. click on a Stage Tab with the mouse, OR 2. use the Page Down / Page Up keys to increase / decrease the current viewing stage, OR 3. use the mouse wheel (place the cursor over the stage tabs and rotate the mouse wheel to increase / decrease the viewing stage).

Snap
The Snap options in Phase2 allow the user to quickly and easily "snap" exactly to any point or line segment in the view. In the Phase2 Model program, snapping is applicable for all options which use graphical data input, such as Adding Boundaries, Adding Support, editing options etc. If the Snap option is enabled, this allows the user to snap exactly to: 1. Any vertex of any model entity (Vertex Snap). 2. If you hover the mouse over any vertex, the cursor will change to a circle, indicating that you may snap exactly to the vertex location. Note that this includes vertices of all modeling entities (e.g. boundaries, support, etc). 3. Any line segment of any model entity (Line Snap). 4. When the cursor is hovered over any line segment in the view, the cursor will change to an X. If you click the mouse when the X is displayed, the point will be snapped exactly to the line segment. Note that this includes line segments defining all modeling entities (e.g. boundaries, support, etc). 5. Any grid point (if the grid is displayed) (Grid Snap). 6. If the Grid is displayed, you can snap exactly to grid points when the mouse is hovered over a grid point. The cursor will change to a small circle when placed over a grid point, to indicate that you may snap to the grid point. 7. Any extension line displayed by the OSnap option (see below for details).

Grid
The Grid option allows you to display a grid of points or lines over the model. To turn the grid on or off, select Grid from the View menu, and toggle the Grid Status. Grid settings can also be changed (Grid Style, Spacing, and Color) in this dialog.

Boundaries Overview
The first step in creating a Phase2 model (after setting the Project Settings) is to create the boundaries defining the model. Boundaries are added using the Add options in the Boundaries menu or the toolbar (e.g. Add Excavation , Add External , Add Material , Add Stage etc). Boundaries can be imported from a DXF file using the Import DXF option.

 Boundaries can easily be edited using the extensive editing capabilities of Phase2. The different boundary types defined in Phase2 are: Excavation Closed polylines representing excavations. In the case of staged excavations, an Excavation boundary usually represents the final stage (or maximum extent) of an excavation, intermediate boundaries within the excavation being represented by Stage or Material boundaries (see below). External Closed polyline, defining the extents of the finite element mesh, and encompassing all other boundaries. An External boundary is required for every Phase2 model. Only one External boundary can be defined for a model. Material Open (or closed) polylines, used to define boundaries between different material types. Stage Open (or closed) polylines, used to define boundaries between different stages of excavation. Joint Open polyline, representing a joint or other discontinuity in the rock mass. Unlike Material or Stage boundaries, a Joint boundary has associated properties (stiffness and strength). Structural Interface Open polyline, representing a support element such as piles or geotextiles, which have a sliding interface (joint) on BOTH sides of the support element. Structural Interfaces have associated properties (joint and support properties). Piezometric Line A polyline representing a water table or Piezometric surface, used to calculate pore pressures for an effective stress analysis. Only applicable if the Groundwater Method = Piezometric Lines.

View Limits
The View Limits option allows you to set the initial drawing limits of the CAD View so that the limits encompass the coordinates you will be entering. To use the View Limits option: 1. Select Limits from the View menu. 2. Enter the X and Y coordinates of the lower left (Minimum X Y) and upper right (Maximum X Y) corners of the drawing region you would like to start working with. 3. Press OK and the limits of the view will be updated to encompass the limits you have just entered. 4. The actual limits will in general not be exactly the ones you entered, unless the box you have defined is exactly the same "shape" as the current view. In any case, the limits will always encompass the coordinates you entered (i.e. the view will never be smaller than the limits you entered). NOTE: The Limits option is intended for use when initially creating the model. After a model has been created, the Zoom and Pan options can be used to adjust the viewing region with respect to the model, it is not necessary to use the Limits option. If you enter boundary coordinates through the prompt line, the view limits are automatically updated to encompass the points you are entering (i.e. if a coordinate is outside the current viewing window, the view will be automatically updated to include all points).

Entering Coordinates
When you are adding boundaries, there are various methods of entering the x,y coordinates. You can use: the keyboard (prompt line) the mouse (graphical entry) a coordinate table import from a file or any combination of the above. There are also many useful options available through the right-click menu or the prompt line, which aid in the entering of boundaries (snap options, drawing arcs, circles etc). Boundaries in Phase2 are modeled by a series of straight-line segments defined by x,y coordinates. The coordinate system uses the convention: X is horizontal and positive to the right and Y is vertical and positive upwards.

Drawing Arc Segments

Boundaries which include arc segments can be easily modeled in Phase2. NOTE: Arcs can be used with any boundary type in Phase2. You can include any number of arcs in a single boundary. An arc in Phase2 is actually made up of straight line segments which approximate a circular arc. To define a complete circle use the Circle option rather than the Arc option. The following instructions assume that you have already selected one of the Add Boundary options (e.g. Add Excavation, Add Material, etc), and are in the mode for entering vertices. To create an arc: 1. Enter the starting point of the arc, graphically with the mouse, or through the keyboard. 2. Select Arc from the right-click menu, or type a followed by Enter in the prompt line. 3. You will see the Arc Options dialog, in which you can choose: Arc Definition Method (3 options available) Arc to polyline conversion method (2 options available) Make your selections in the dialog, and select OK.

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As you move the mouse, you will see an interactive arc drawn on the screen, which follows the cursor position. Enter the arc according to the Arc Definition Method you have chosen. You may use the keyboard or the mouse to enter the required points.

Add Excavation
To add an Excavation boundary to your model: 1. Select Add Excavation from the toolbar or the Boundaries menu. 2. Enter the vertices of the excavation as described in Entering Coordinates. 3. An excavation boundary must always be closed. To close the excavation boundary, after all vertices are entered, right-click and select Close Boundary, or you can type c and Enter in the prompt line. This automatically and correctly closes the excavation, and saves the user the trouble of having to re-enter the first vertex to complete the boundary. Tips While you are entering a boundary, you can undo mistakes, draw arc segments or circles, and activate the snap options. See the following topics for information: Correcting Mistakes Drawing Arc Segments Drawing Circles Toggling the Snap mode If the Snap option is activated, you can also close an excavation boundary by snapping to the first vertex after all other vertices are entered. Excavation Boundaries and Staging In a multi-stage model, an Excavation boundary will usually represent the maximum extent of an excavated region. Intermediate boundaries within excavations, representing different stages of excavation, can be represented by either Stage boundaries or Material boundaries. You CANNOT add Excavation boundaries which are within, crossing or overlapping other Excavation boundaries. Surface Excavations If you are using Excavation boundaries to model a surface excavation, you will have to make sure that the Excavation and External boundaries are coincident with each other, where appropriate.

Add External Boundary

The External boundary, as defined in Phase2, encompasses all other model boundaries, and defines the extents of the finite element mesh. NOTE: An External boundary must be defined for every model; otherwise the finite element mesh cannot be generated. Only one External boundary can be defined for a given model. To add the External boundary to your model: 1. Select Add External from the toolbar or the Boundaries menu. 2. If at least one Excavation boundary has been defined, you will see the Create External Boundary dialog, shown below. This dialog allows you to choose from 3 different automatically generated External boundary types (based on the extent of the current Excavation boundaries), or a user-defined, manually entered External boundary.

Add Material Boundary

A Material boundary is used in Phase2 to define regions with different material properties. If your entire model consists of a single rock or soil type with uniform material properties throughout, then Material boundaries are not necessary. If you wish to define regions having different material properties (e.g. strength and elastic properties), then use Material boundaries to define the regions. To add a Material boundary to your model: 1. Select Add Material from the toolbar or the Boundaries menu. 2. Enter the vertices of the material boundary as described in Entering Coordinates. 3. When all vertices are entered, right-click and select Done, or press Enter with nothing in the prompt line, and the Material boundary will be added to the model.

Mesh Overview
After defining all boundaries, the finite element mesh can be created. Phase2 incorporates a state-of-the-art 2 dimensional automatic finite element mesh generator, which can generate meshes based on either triangular or quadrilateral finite elements. The advanced meshing algorithm used in Phase2 enormously simplifies the task of mesh generation for the user - a high quality mesh can be generated with just one mouse click!! To give the user maximum flexibility in defining the mesh, the mesh generation procedure consists of two general steps: 1. Discretization 2. Meshing The main parameters controlling the discretization and meshing, are found in the Mesh Setup dialog (e.g. mesh type, element type). Various other options can be used to customize the mesh if required, and the mesh quality can be checked. Discretize Before the mesh is generated the boundaries must first be Discretized. This process subdivides the boundary line segments into discretizations which will form the framework of the finite element mesh. To discretize the boundaries, select the Discretize option. Mesh After discretizing, the finite element mesh can be generated. The mesh is based on the discretization of the boundaries, and the mesh and element types selected in the Mesh Setup dialog. To generate the mesh, select the Mesh option. Discretize and Mesh A shortcut to Discretize and Mesh is to select the Discretize and Mesh option. This will automatically discretize the boundaries AND generate the mesh, with a single mouse click. This is useful if you do not need to customize the discretization, or to quickly re-apply the discretization and mesh if it has already been customized. Customizing the Mesh

Several different options are available for customizing the mesh, which give the user complete control over the discretization and meshing. This includes the following options: Custom Discretize Advanced Mesh Regions (in the Mesh Setup dialog) Increase Discretization Density Increase Element Density Mapped Meshing Mapped Meshing The options in the Mapped Meshing sub-menu allow you to generate a regular (mapped) mesh of triangles or quadrilaterals within any 3-sided or 4sided region of the model. Mesh Quality The options in the Mesh Quality sub-menu allow you to check the quality of the mesh, and highlight problem areas which may need custom discretization or editing of boundaries to avoid poor quality elements (i.e. long thin elements which can lead to numerical problems).

Loading Overview
The options in the Loading menu allow you to define all of the various types of loads which can be applied to a Phase2 model. The following options are available. Field Stress The Field Stress option is used to define the initial stress conditions in the ground prior to excavation. See the Field Stress topic for details. Load Split Load Split is an advanced option which can be used to "split" the field stress and/or body force loading of the finite elements, between any stages of the model, rather than applying the entire load in the first stage. See the Load Split topic for details. Seismic Load A pseudo-static seismic (earthquake) load can be applied to the model with the Seismic Loading option. See the Seismic Load topic for details. Distributed Loads The Distributed Load options allow you to add Uniform or Triangular distributed loads to model boundaries. Also, a special option is available for the modeling of loading due to Ponded Water. See the Distributed Loads topic for details. Line Loads The Line Loads option allows you to apply a concentrated load to any node(s) of the finite element mesh. See the Add Line Load topic for details. Springs The Springs option allows you to apply "spring elements" to any node(s) of the finite element mesh. See the Add Springs topic for details. Liner Moments The Liner Moment options allow you to define moment and rotation boundary conditions for Liners.

Displacements Menu Overview

The options in the Displacements menu in the Phase2 Model program, are used to specify: the displacement boundary conditions (restraints) for the model other displacement related analysis options The following options are available. Displacement Boundary Conditions (Restraints) The following options are used to apply displacement boundary conditions to the model. Restrain XY (i.e. pinned) Restrain X (i.e. free to move in the Y direction only) Restrain Y (i.e. free to move in the X direction only) Free (i.e. free in both X and Y directions) A fixed, non-zero displacement can be applied as a boundary condition using the Set Displacement option. Infinite Elements can be used on the External boundary. This is set in the Default External boundary condition dialog. Reset All Displacements The Reset All Displacements option allows you to reset all calculated displacements to zero after any stage of a multi-stage model. This option can be used to filter out displacements that are not of interest, to provide a known reference state. For example, the initial displacements which are calculated in the first stage of a surface excavation model, where the first stage is used to "settle" the model under it's own weight.

Compute
To compute results for your Phase2 model, select the Compute option from the toolbar or the Analysis menu. This will carry out the finite element stress analysis for the current model. NOTE: The Compute option is not enabled unless the finite element mesh exists. If you select Compute before saving a file, you will first be prompted to save the file, and then the analysis will be run. If for some reason you need to abort the analysis after selecting Compute, select the Abort button on the Compute dialog, and the analysis will be terminated.