New releases of PLAXIS CONNECT Edition V20 Update 3: PLAXIS 2D, 3D and MoDeTo. And Output Viewers!

We are happy to announce that in June 2020, we released new PLAXIS versions:

  • PLAXIS 2D CONNECT Edition V20 Update 3
  • PLAXIS 3D CONNECT Edition V20 Update 3
  • PLAXIS MoDeTo CONNECT Edition V20 Update 3
  • PLAXIS Output Viewer CONNECT Edition V20 Update 3 for PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D

Our team of experts are continuously improving the software. In this update many new features and improvements have been included, for example, the new PLAXIS Output Viewers serving as a free calculation results viewer, a calculation manager to queue up all your desired PLAXIS 2D and 3D calculations, MoDeTo’s new Soil Reaction curves in Design Verification and a much improved streamlining 3D FEM model generation for huge time saving and driving efficiency using PLAXIS MoDeTo.
Also, two of our Technology Preview features are now released as full features: ProjectWise integration and Command Line Autocomplete.

PLAXIS Output Viewers

The PLAXIS Viewers are standalone programs and offer you and your clients the ability to view calculated PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D projects for free! This enables you to easily communicate your PLAXIS results with your clients or other stakeholders.

The Viewers come bundled with your PLAXIS 2D or PLAXIS 3D installation but are also available as separate free downloads!

With PLAXIS Output Viewer you can:

  • View and inspect results ONLY with PLAXIS Output Viewer
  • Share your sophisticated PLAXIS Finite Element models in a full viewing experience with your stakeholders

* Note: PLAXIS Professional license is required for additional investigative and reporting features.

Free downloads are available now via Bentley iWare and Bentley Software Downloads.

Read here for more details in the Release notes page.

Calculation manager

Following requests from our users, we now released a new tool to easily queue up all your PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D calculations. Now, before leaving the office, you can set up a list of PLAXIS project files to be calculated and let them run sequentially over-night! When the calculation is done, you can directly check the Input model or jump to the results in PLAXIS Output.

New Polycurve designer in PLAXIS 3D

In PLAXIS 3D, we replace the shape designer with a completely revamped Polycurve designer: it is now based on the look-and-feel of the Tunnel designer. More importantly, it offers more control and is easier to use. The new Polycurve designer includes new functionality for easy creation of circular and square polycurves.

New calculation state for MoDeTo

When running multiple scenarios in PLAXIS MoDeTo, it could be that one PLAXIS 3D calculation was stopped for some reason. In those cases, you could not access the results from MoDeTo. In a lot of cases you could still learn something from the analysis and use its results.
Now PLAXIS MoDeTo can still produce curves from these projects that are in a “Partially calculated” state.

Soil reaction curves in Design Verification

In the previous release of PLAXIS MoDeTo, we added the option to quickly generate a new PLAXIS 3D model from the final design using the 1D design approach. Now we added Soil reaction curves so it will also be quick and easy to compare between the Design Verification model and the 1D analysis.

Python environment improvements

More advanced usage of the PLAXIS API sometimes requires more control of the Python environment you are working with. While we keep delivering an out-of-the-box solution to start automating your digital geotechnical workflow, we now also offer more control to those more advanced users. With PLAXIS 2D CE V20.03 and PLAXIS 3D CE V20.03 we deliver a Python environment that can be used for user-created Python scripts along with the editor, and we will deliver a trimmed-down environment intended for all PLAXIS extensions written in Python, e.g. the 2D to 3D converter and the structural Coupling tool. Also, PLAXIS MoDeTo CE Update 3 will make use of this internal PLAXIS-Python environment.

Next to that, users may also choose their own custom Python installation over the delivered Python environment to further customize their automated workflows. This can now be set via the Expert > Python > Configure Python Interpreter menu item.

Command line Auto-Complete

In the past years, users asked us to help them write the correct command or use the correct PLAXIS object name in the command line so they could work more efficiently, make fewer mistakes and save time. Now you can do so by enabling this option from the Options menu option in PLAXIS 2D/3D Input.
This feature was already available as a Technology Preview, and now with the latest improvements, we are happy to have it now available as a full feature available for all our Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement users!

ProjectWise integration: a full feature

The ProjectWise integration to store your PLAXIS models in a version-controlled environment is now elevated to a full feature. Now it is easier than ever to keep your PLAXIS files in sync with colleagues and handle change management much easier and more efficient.


So, update to our latest editions to benefit from these new features and software improvements using either the CONNECTION Client or download the software yourself today!


Full release notes with all added features:

PLAXIS 2D CONNECT Edition V20 Update 2 PLAXIS 3D CONNECT Edition V20 Update 2 PLAXIS MoDeTo CONNECT Edition V20 PLAXIS Output Viewer CONNECT Edition V20

PLAXIS 2D
CE V20 Update 3
V20.03.00.60

June 2020

PLAXIS 3D
CE V20 Update 3
V20.03.00.60

June 2020

PLAXIS MoDeTo
CE V20 Update 3
V20.03.00.60

June 2020

PLAXIS Output Viewer
CE V20 Update 3
V20.03.00.60

June 2020