GGSD Newsletter Archive

GGSD Newsletter Archive

GGSD Newsletter - December 2002
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Welcome to the eighth GGSD Newsletter, bringing you news of newly released geo-software and of updates to the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Software Directory (GGSD) at http://www.ggsd.com/

In this Newsletter:

- GGSD updates
- New and updated program entries
- My pick of the new programs

If you want to change the e-mail address that this Newsletter is sent to, or look through the archive of previous Newsletters, or if you wish to be removed from the mailing list, then visit the Newsletter page at http://www.ggsd.com/

Regards
Tim Spink
19 December 2002

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GGSD updates

Since the last Newsletter there was an update of the GGSD in December. The GGSD now lists 1,484 programs, 851 suppliers and publishers and 27 useful WWW links. The most recent new and updated entries are listed in the What's New page at http://www.ggsd.com/ and the 52 new and updated program entries are given below.

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New and updated program entries

GEOTECHNICAL PROGRAMS

Bearing capacity

-- BearCap - Updated 11 December 2002

Dynamics (behaviour and earthquake)

-- QUAKE/W - Updated 11 December 2002
-- ShearVave - New 11 December 2002

Geothermal

-- SVHeat - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below
-- TEMP-W - Updated 11 December 2002

Insitu testing

-- CPT-pro - Updated 11 December 2002
-- Field Density Report System - New 11 December 2002
-- GS-Dynamic Penetrometer - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Laboratory testing (soil)

-- CompIndex - Updated 11 December 2002
-- DataSystem 7 - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below
-- Proctor Density Report System - New 11 December 2002
-- Sieve Analysis Report System - New 11 December 2002
-- Texture AutoLookup - New 11 December 2002

Numerical analysis (general)

-- VisualFEA - New 11 December 2002

Numerical analysis (soil)

-- SIGMA-W - Updated 11 December 2002

Piles (lateral loading and groups)

-- GASGroup - New 11 December 2002
-- Repute - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Piles (single)

-- APILE - New 11 December 2002

Retaining wall design

-- CADS Piled Wall Suite - Updated 11 December 2002
-- RetWall - Updated 11 December 2002

Rock mechanics

-- RocLab - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Settlement analysis

-- ConSetle - Updated 11 December 2002
-- Schmert - Updated 11 December 2002
-- SDPS - Updated 11 December 2002
-- StrsDist - Updated 11 December 2002

Slope stability (soil)

-- CADS Re-Slope - New 11 December 2002
-- CLARA-W - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below
-- PISA (Haneberg) - New 11 December 2002
-- SHALSTAB - New 11 December 2002
-- Slope (ejgeSoft) - New 11 December 2002
-- Slope-W - Updated 11 December 2002

GEOENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

Contaminant transport (2D FEM)

-- CTRAN-W - Updated 11 December 2002

Groundwater flow (2D)

-- SEEP-W - Updated 11 December 2002
-- Visual BlueBird /SPLIT - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Groundwater modelling

-- MIKE SHE - New 11 December 2002
-- VADOSE/W - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

GENERAL PROGRAMS

Borehole log production

-- GeoSmart II - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Contract Planning and Management

-- Cerith Service - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below
-- IBC Business Manager - New 11 December 2002

Data validation

-- DataStream Free - New 11 December 2002

Database systems (general)

-- Asphalt Test Report System - New 11 December 2002
-- Concrete Performance Report - Updated 11 December 2002
-- Concrete Test Report System - New 11 December 2002
-- DIG - New 11 December 2002

Geological illustration

-- AHatch Pro - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Mapping

-- RaveGeo - New 11 December 2002
-- Terrain Tools - Updated 11 December 2002
-- Terrain Tools 3D - New 11 December 2002
-- TopoLT - New 11 December 2002

Plotting (special)

-- DotProc - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

Risk analysis

-- ConSim - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below
-- LandSim - New 11 December 2002

Site procedures

-- e-chain - New 11 December 2002 - See my pick of the new programs below

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My pick of the new programs

As always, this section has to be preceded by a disclaimer. The programs listed below are ones that caught my eye as being useful/interesting/different from the many submissions I receive. I have not tried any of these programs, and I am not making a recommendation. It is up to you to make your own choice. Some of these may not be "New" programs, but their entry in GGSD is new. That said, here is my pick. All the programs run under Windows or are accessed over the internet via a normal web browser.

GEOTECHNICAL PROGRAMS

Geothermal -- SVHeat

SVHeat is a geothermal finite element modelling program available in 2D and 3D versions. It can be used for steady state or transient analysis of frozen or unfrozen, saturated or unsaturated soils. As output it produces contour plots of temperature or unfrozen water content, vector plots of energy flux gradients, pathlines, cutaways and isosurfaces.

Insitu testing -- GS-Dynamic Penetrometer

GS-Dynamic Penetrometer handles the data from any type of dynamic penetrometer test including the various DIN penetrometer types and the SPT. The data is processed to derive Ndp and Rd. Geological interpretation can be carried out, and a range of geotechnical parameters may be determined using published correlations. It carries out assessments of bearing capacity, settlement, liquefaction potential and pile design.

Laboratory testing (soil) -- DataSystem 7

ELE has released DataSystem 7 as a modular system of data acquisition and analysis software for their geotechnical laboratory equipment. The software is selectable between British and ASTM/AASHTO Standards. A database is set up to store and manage completed test data for analysis, reporting or for processing using other packages. Data can be exported in the AGS interchange format.

Piles (lateral loading and groups) -- Repute

Repute determines the response of pile groups to 3D loading, using linear or non-linear soil models. It's calculation engine is the program PGroupN, which provides a complete 3D non-linear boundary element solution of the soil continuum. This is claimed to overcome the limitations of traditional interaction-factor methods, giving more realistic predictions of deformations and the load distribution between piles.

Rock mechanics -- RocLab

RocLab is a free program for determining rock mass strength parameters, based on the latest version of the generalised Hoek-Brown failure criterion. The effect of changing the rock mass parameters, on the failure envelope may be assessed. This is an essential download for anyone working in rock mechanics. Click on the Rocscience advert in the GGSD to get to the download page.

Slope stability (soil) -- CLARA-W

CLARA-W is yet another limit equilibrium slope stability program using the Bishop, Janbu, Spencer and Morgenstern-Price methods. The distinguishing feature of this program is that as well as the normal 2D analysis methods, it also offers 3D analysis. Modelling of rotational or non-rotational sliding surfaces, ellipsoids, wedges, compound surfaces and fully specified surfaces is provided, together with point loads, tension cracks, earthquake loading, anisotropic and non-linear material strength models and the use of a digital elevation model to specify the ground surface topography.

GEOENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

Groundwater flow (2D) -- Visual BlueBird /SPLIT

Visual BlueBird is a free graphical user interface for the modelling of single-layer 2D groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers by the analytic element method using the public domain SPLIT program, which includes particle tracking, capture-zone delineation, and parameter estimation.

Groundwater modelling -- VADOSE/W

VADOSE/W computes flux boundaries in the vadose zone taking account of precipitation, evaporation, snow accumulation, snow melt, surface water runoff, ponding, groundwater seepage, ground freezing and thawing, and plant transpiration. It uses the rigorous Penman-Wilson method to compute actual evaporation as a function of soil water pressure.

GENERAL PROGRAMS

Borehole log production -- GeoSmart II

GeoSmart II creates borehole logs and geological sections from ground investigation data. The data is prepared as an Excel spreadsheet and the logs and sections are produced in AutoCAD. Data may be imported and exported in the AGS interchange format.

Contract Planning and Management -- Cerith Service

Cerith Service is one of a new breed of internet based tools for business management. It is aimed at the Technical Services sector and may have applications for laboratory testing companies. It provides project and client management, reporting and billing.

Geological illustration -- AHatch Pro

AHatch Pro is a low cost program for making AutoCAD hatch patterns of soils and rocks for use in geotechnical drawings.

Plotting (special) -- DotProc

DotProc carries out Fry analysis, fractal analysis and uniformity tests on distributions of point data. The analysis methods assist in identifying and quantifying spatial trends and anisotropies in groups of point data. The methods were developed for the mining industry, but there must surely be applications in geotechnics.

Risk analysis -- ConSim

ConSim assesses the impact of contaminated land on the groundwater regime using Monte Carlo analysis to model uncertainty in the source data. The initial source concentration is based on the results of a leach test or a theoretical assessment. The model was developed for the UK Environment Agency.

Site procedures -- e-chain

e-chain is a site tool for geoenvironmental sampling that prints the chain-of-custody for each cool box and all bottle labels. The sample data can be exported in EDF_COC format for import into a laboratory database system.