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PLAXIS | SOILVISION
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PLAXIS | SOILVISION
PLAXIS | SOILVISION Wiki Multicore CPU and 32/64-bit
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    • -Geotechnical Analysis Wiki
      • +Geotechnical SELECT Entitlements [GSE]
      • -PLAXIS
        • +Software and License - PLAXIS
        • +Documentation - PLAXIS
        • +API / Python scripting - PLAXIS
        • +Known issues - PLAXIS
        • +Models - PLAXIS
        • -Tips and Tricks
          • 3D Extrusion along a curved path
          • 3D Output: show results for shadings or contour lines
          • 64 bit User Defined Soil model
          • After a consolidation analysis I have excess pore pressures in "drained" material sets. Why?
          • Application of commands: echo
          • Application of commands: Groupfiltered and Apply
          • Application of commands: Referring to objects through their index
          • Calculation Kernel Convergence log
          • Can I import a geometry in PLAXIS 2D?
          • Can I reuse existing PLAXIS 3D geometrical objects in a new project?
          • Change temporary folder for intermediate calculation data files
          • Closing PLAXIS after your calculation is finished
          • CodeMeter network error during calculation (IPv4/v6 conflict)
          • Codemeter Network Installation
          • Codemeter USB Stick behaviour
          • Command line reference
          • Compliant base and free field boundaries: check on input signal
          • Composite liner approach in PLAXIS 2D
          • Connect a node-to-node anchor with an embedded beam row halfway
          • Considerations for modelling a thick slab as a plate
          • Consolidation: Minimum Pore Pressures and Degree of Consolidation analysis may give spurious displacements of boundary nodes
          • Conversion from 2D Version 8/9
          • Conversion of PLAXIS 2D files
          • Copy/Array command in Plaxis 2D
          • Create centerline for Structural Forces in Volumes
          • Create rock bolts accurately in PLAXIS 3D
          • Creating axial force curve for Fixed End anchors
          • Deactivated loads are still visible in PLAXIS Output
          • Definition of a bending moment as load
          • Definition of Hoek-Brown model parameters in Plaxis
          • Drained Settlement Vs. Consolidation: Differences at Failure in Output
          • Drift correction for dynamic input signal from file
          • During a calculation some plastic points disappear. How is that possible?
          • Dynamic Load with Perpendicular Distribution
          • Encrypted scripting server vulnerable to replay attacks
          • End bearing of plates
          • Energy saving while running multiple calculations
          • Error when generating 3D mesh
          • Export and format plots from PLAXIS Output
          • Export or reuse geometry for New Analysis
          • Extended command syntax for mesh generation
          • Fixed and Compliant base: what input motion is required?
          • Fixities and deformation boundary conditions
          • Force envelope results explained
          • Fundamentals of pseudo-static analysis in PLAXIS
          • General modeling guidelines - recommendations
          • Graphics card issues
          • Groundwater flow analysis in PLAXIS – Brief overview
          • How do I import a geometry in PLAXIS 3D?
          • How does Plaxis deal with water pressures during dynamic calculations?
          • How does Reset displacements to zero work?
          • How does the option volumetric strain work?
          • How to activate a dynamic load
          • How to change the PLAXIS model width
          • How to check undrained shear strength using Undrained A?
          • How to convert PLAXIS V21 material database to the V22 format
          • How to define and edit a material via the command line
          • How to get a load - displacement curve using SumMstage
          • How to prescribe a dynamic displacement
          • How to run a Limit Equilibrium Method analysis from PLAXIS 2D
          • How to select more than 10 nodes to be used for a curve
          • How to setup the number of steps stored in PLAXIS Input
          • How to setup tied degrees of freedom
          • How to use command log files
          • How to validate a material via the GUI and command line
          • I use PLAXIS and it says I do not have the proper entitlements
          • Improving speed of mesh generation in combination with stage generation
          • In Plaxis Curves it is possible to plot Force Fx, Fy and Fz. What are these parameters?
          • Initial degree of saturation for soil activated during staged construction
          • InputSettings object in Output
          • Inspect intermediate step results in PLAXIS Output
          • Install latest 2D version and 2D AE for converting older files
          • Is it possible to apply a distributed load on tunnel lining in PLAXIS 2D?
          • Is PLAXIS 3D 64-bit?
          • Is PLAXIS 3D enabled for multicore?
          • Iterative settings: desired minimum and maximum
          • Iterative settings: Influence of Arc length control
          • Iterative settings: Max unloading steps (arc length control)
          • Key not bound to machine
          • Language reset in PLAXIS 2D and 3D
          • Launch PLAXIS 2D calculations via DOS commands
          • Load activation in time
          • Local axis and its colour indication
          • Macros using the commands runner
          • Material datasets for plates: sheet pile wall in bending
          • Materials overview in the Model explorer
          • Memory usage in dynamic calculations
          • Mesh alignment in flow problems
          • Mesh generation might not work under Windows 7 due to security settings
          • Modelling a tapered pile
          • Modelling Rock mass using discrete discontinuities vs Jointed Rock
          • Modelling soil-structure interaction: interfaces
          • Modelling technique: Vacuum consolidation
          • Modifying boundary conditions
          • Multicore CPU and 32/64-bit
          • Node-to-Node anchors as an alternative for Fixed-End anchors
          • Non-consecutive order of step numbers in Plaxis
          • Obtain Object names easily to use in commands
          • Obtaining tabulated data from PLAXIS Input
          • On different failure criteria for soils
          • On the initialisation of the temperatures of solid elements
          • On the use of dynamic boundary conditions
          • Opening old PLAXIS project gives a popup window. What should I do?
          • Output of flow results through interfaces
          • Output project compatibility
          • Permeability in interfaces
          • Permeability in interfaces: Practical situations
          • Pile modelling in a 2D plane strain model
          • PLAXIS 2D Command compatibility notes
          • PLAXIS 3D 2013 and older PLAXIS files
          • PLAXIS 3D 2016: Fully parametric geometry
          • PLAXIS 3D Command compatibility notes
          • PLAXIS Legacy version and supported CodeMeter drivers
          • PLAXIS Output Phase/Step object compatibility
          • PLAXIS Silent Installation
          • PLAXIS Soil model numbers in command line
          • Plaxis uses SMC files for earthquakes, but what kind of format is this?
          • Points of interest for pile modelling in a 2D plane strain model
          • Problems related to non-associated plasticity
          • Program responds that drivers are out of date, but I have a newer version installed
          • Pseudo static acceleration
          • Re-use materials from other projects
          • Reduction of stiffness does not lead to a change in displacements
          • Regenerate staged construction
          • Run multiple calculations easily
          • Safety analysis and displacements
          • Safety analysis and undrained behaviour
          • Safety analysis and Updated Mesh
          • Safety calculation with a Target Value
          • Saving PLAXIS files for an older version
          • Select points for curves prior to calculation directly in Input
          • Selecting points for curves
          • Set multiple phases to be calculated
          • Showing a list of embedded beams by length
          • Small overlaps curves message in SoilTest optimisation
          • Smart selection of line elements in PLAXIS 2D Input
          • Stiffness units for structural elements in an axisymmetric model
          • Stress relaxation due to creep in concrete structures
          • Stresses in non-porous materials
          • Swept meshing in PLAXIS 3D
          • Tension cut-off in interfaces for User Defined Soil Models
          • Time step used in dynamic calculation
          • Trim and extend a line in PLAXIS 2D
          • Tunnels in PLAXIS 3D: Extrusions and cutting planes
          • Unable to select points for curves
          • Unable to select structures or nodes
          • Use of wells in PLAXIS 3D
          • Using an accelerogram for Dynamics
          • Using partial geometry for interesting result images in PLAXIS 3D
          • Using PLAXIS Remote scripting with the Python wrapper
          • Waterlevel inspection and editing in PLAXIS 2D
          • Westergaard's added mass for hydrodynamic pressures: a simple case
        • +Publications
        • +Videos - PLAXIS
      • +PLAXIS LE
      • +PLAXIS Monopile Designer
      • +SOILVISION
      • +Subscription Entitlement Service
    • +Working from home with PLAXIS
    • +Working from home with PLAXIS LE

     
     Questions about this article, topic, or product? Click here. 

    Multicore CPU and 32/64-bit

    Application PLAXIS 2D
    PLAXIS 3D
    Version PLAXIS 2D
    PLAXIS 3D
    Date created 31 May 2011
    Date modified 31 May 2011
    Note: with the release of PLAXIS 3D 2016 and PLAXIS 2D 2017, Plaxis will only have 64-bit applications: GUI, mesh generator and calculation kernel are all compiled in 64-bit.

    PLAXIS 2D 2010: parallel phases

    PLAXIS 2D 2010 is a 32-bit application, but with the advantage of calculating phases simultaneously when these phases are independent. An example: take a project that has three phases and both Phase 2 and Phase 3 will start from Phase 1. This makes Phase 2 and Phase 3 independent of each other. With PLAXIS 2D2010 you can now calculate Phase 2 and Phase 3 simultaneously when Phase 1 is finished and when you have at least 2 CPU cores available. Another advantage is that the calculation kernel can do the matrix decomposition over multiple CPU cores, making calculations with advanced soil models, like the Hardening Soil model, faster. Especially for calculation phases with a lot of steps (e.g. Dynamics), this can give an improvement of 20%.

    The best way to improve your calculation speed for 2D 2010 is:

    • at least a DualCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 3 GB of RAM (even for a 32-bit Windows version)
    • Harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Store the Plaxis project files on this local fast HDD to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • minimize the amount of other running applications on that computer

    PLAXIS 2D 2011: multicore solver

    With the release of PLAXIS 2D 2011, Plaxis moves another step forward for fast and efficient Finite Element calculations: a single-phase calculation will now use all available CPU cores for the fastest possible phase calculation. As a side effect, the algorithm for parallel phases that was available in PLAXIS 2D 2010 cannot be used to avoid system overload (multiple phases all using the same amount of CPU cores).
    Note that this calculation is currently still 32 bit, but the calculation can now handle more than 10,000 15-noded elements.

    For the best calculation performance for PLAXIS 2D 2011:

    • at least a DualCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 3 GB of RAM (even for a 32-bit Windows version)
    • Harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Store the Plaxis project files on this local fast HDD to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • minimize the amount of other running applications on that computer

    PLAXIS 2D 2011.01: 64-bit multicore solver

    In the PLAXIS 2D 2011.01 update, Plaxis adds another calculation improvement: the 64-bit calculation kernel. Now larger models can be calculated: in the 64-bit calculation kernel the memory limit is determined by the maximum available RAM memory in the computer system, improving the 2 GB limit of the 32-bit kernel. And in most cases, the 64-bit calculation kernel will improve the calculation time.

    Note that the software can still run on a 32 bit Windows version, in which it will fall back to the 32-bit calculation behaviour.

    For the best calculation performance for PLAXIS 2D 2011.01:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 4 GB of RAM
    • Harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Store the Plaxis project files on this local fast HDD to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • minimize the amount of other running applications on that computer

    PLAXIS 2D 2012: calculations performed in local TEMP

    In order to further increase the speed and robustness of PLAXIS 2D calculations, starting with the PLAXIS 2D 2012 version, calculations are now always made on files stored on a local disk: the data necessary for the calculation is copied to the Windows TEMP folder when starting the calculation. Once the calculation is finished, it will move the resulting data from the Windows TEMP folder to the final save location.
    With this change calculations on Plaxis files stored in a network location become faster and more robust due to less network traffic.

    For the best calculation performance for PLAXIS 2D 2012 and PLAXIS 2D Classic:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 4 GB of RAM
    • harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 256 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)
    • minimize the amount of other running applications on that computer

    PLAXIS 2D AE: all unsaved data in local TEMP

    With the release of PLAXIS 2D AE, the data structure of the PLAXIS 3D 2013 program is followed. This means that all data will be stored in the Windows TEMP folder until the user undertakes a save action: only then the data is moved to the saved destination.

    For good calculation performance:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 4 GB of RAM
    • hard disk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 256 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)
    • minimize the number of other running applications on that computer

    PLAXIS 2D 2017: full 64 bit

    With the release of PLAXIS 2D 2017, the Input/Output GUI, mesh generator and calculation kernel are now all compiled in 64-bit, taking advantage of increased RAM memory usage.

    For good calculation performance:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 8 GB of RAM
    • hard disk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 512 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)
    • minimize the number of other running applications on that computer

     PLAXIS 3D 2010: 64-bit calculation kernel

    In PLAXIS 3D 2010 and later, a 64-bit calculation kernel is available. In order to use such a 64-bit calculation kernel, it must be run on a 64-bits version of a Microsoft Operating System. In that case, the calculation kernel's memory limitation is based on the available RAM in the system, rather than the 32-bit limitation of about 2 GB. These 64-bit calculation kernels are available via the Bentley Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement [GSE] (former PLAXIS-VIP) Licence.
    For PLAXIS 3D2010, the system of independent phase calculation is also introduced, so a multi-core processor will have some advantages.
    For the best calculation performance using a 64-bit calculation kernel:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a DualCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • Harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 256 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)

    PLAXIS 3D 2011: 64-bit parallel solver

    With the release of PLAXIS 3D2011, Plaxis will allow for the usage of different solvers, including a multicore 64-bit solver. With this new calculation option, a single-phase calculation can be calculated using multiple CPU cores. For the best calculation performance:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • for large 3D models, at least 16 GB of RAM
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • Harddisk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 256 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)

    Note that all Plaxis programs can still run on a 32-bit Windows Operating System, but it will run with the 32-bit limitation of using a maximum of 3.8 GB of RAM. In most cases, this is not a practical limitation for 2D.

    PLAXIS 3D 2016: full 64-bit application

    With the release of PLAXIS 3D 2016, the Input/Output GUI, mesh generator and calculation kernel are now all compiled in 64-bit, taking advantage of increased RAM memory usage. Also, the entire geometry model is now taking advantage of a fully parametric geometric data model.

    For good calculation performance:

    • a 64-bit Windows Operating System
    • at least a QuadCore PC
    • a fast CPU (high clock speed and recent architecture)
    • 16 GB of RAM or more for even larger models
    • hard disk: Fast HDD with high IOPS, e.g. an SSD. Make sure the Windows TEMP folder is located on this disk to get good read/write speed for data of the ongoing calculation process.
    • a graphics card with a minimum of 512 MB RAM (dedicated, not shared) and support of OpenGL 1.5 (improves the visualisation of the results)
    • minimize the number of other running applications on that computer

    See also

    Is PLAXIS 3D 64-bit?

    [Tips and Tricks]


    Is PLAXIS 3D enabled for multicore?

    [Tips and Tricks]


    Memory usage in dynamic calculations

    [Tips and Tricks]


    Parallel Calculations

    [Videos]


    PLAXIS 3D 2016: Fully parametric geometry

    [Tips and Tricks]

    • PLAXIS 3D
    • 32 bit
    • dualcore
    • Specs
    • quadcore
    • PLAXIS
    • Specification
    • multicore
    • 64 bit
    • PLAXIS 2D
    • Configuration
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    • Cancel
    • Micha van der Sloot Created by Bentley Colleague Micha van der Sloot
    • When: Fri, Dec 20 2019 6:31 AM
    • Micha van der Sloot Last revision by Bentley Colleague Micha van der Sloot
    • When: Tue, Dec 24 2019 6:12 AM
    • Revisions: 2
    • Comments: 0
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