GGSD Program Details for FLAC (University of Sydney)

FLAC (University of Sydney)

Category	Settlement analysis
Publisher	University of Sydney
Platform	DOS
Status	Commercial
Description	FLAC (Finite Layer Analysis of Consolidation) calculates the time-settlement behaviour of uniform circular, strip or rectangular loadings which are applied to the surface of a horizontally layered soil deposit. The output generated contains the stresses, displacements and pore pressures at user-specified times and points on or within the soil deposit. Data preparation is carried out using the program's own in-built editor. Once prepared, data may be stored on disk and re-edited or re-used for subsequent runs. The finite layer formulation used is more convenient than conventional finite element analyses because of the computational efficiency and the reduced data size. However, the advantages of the finite element method are retained because each soil layer may have different thicknesses and material properties which may be isotropic or anisotropic with respect to both permeability and elastic properties. The solution is obtained at any time by a forward-marching technique with the solution at a particular time being found from the solution at the previous time step. Initially small time steps need to be used as the dissipation of excess pore water pressures is rapid, however at larger times when dissipation is slower, the time steps may be increased so that the solution process is more efficient.
Cost	Australian Dollars 550
Data formats supported	None stated
Supplier in Australia	University of Sydney