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PLAXIS CONNECT Edition Licenses

PLAXIS 2D CONNECT Edition V22 and PLAXIS 3D CONNECT Edition V22 are offered in three flexible options to tailor to the different needs of any geotechnical engineer.

PLAXIS 2D / PLAXIS 3D

PLAXIS 2D and PLAXIS 3D offer all the essential functionality to perform everyday deformation and safety analysis for soil and rock, which does not require the consideration of consolidation analysis, groundwater or thermal flow analysis, creep, or other time-dependent effects.

PLAXIS 2D / 3D Advanced

PLAXIS 2D and 3D Advanced offer all the essential capabilities from the PLAXIS 2D and 3D tier extending it with geotechnical capabilities to deal with steady-state groundwater flow, consolidation analysis, creep, pseudostatic analysis, and degradation of soil due to cyclic loading.
Only for PLAXIS 2D, it includes steady-state thermal flow as well.

PLAXIS 2D / 3D Ultimate

PLAXIS 2D and 3D Ultimate offer everything from PLAXIS 2D and 3D Advanced and extend that with functionality to deal with the most challenging geotechnical projects. It includes features to analyze the effects of vibrations in the soil, like earthquake and traffic loads, or time-dependent variation to water levels, model & soil boundaries to simulate complex hydrological conditions.
For PLAXIS 2D Ultimate functionality is available to analyze the effects of time-dependent heat flow on the hydraulic and the mechanical behavior of soils and structures.

PLAXIS 2D WorkSuite

PLAXIS 2D WorkSuite provides you with the full complement of 2D geotechnical analysis products: PLAXIS 2D Ultimate and PLAXIS 2D LE.

PLAXIS 3D WorkSuite

PLAXIS 3D WorkSuite provides you with the full complement of 3D geotechnical analysis products: PLAXIS 3D Ultimate, PLAXIS 3D LE, and PLAXIS Designer.

Geotechnical SELECT Entitlements

With a SELECT subscription on PLAXIS products, users gain access to many specific and extended features in the PLAXIS program as part of Geotechnical SELECT Entitlements [GSE]. Functionality part of the Geotechnical SELECT Entitlements is mainly focused on interoperability with other Bentley Systems software (CAD or ISM import), scripting and satellite tools based on scripting (for example Sensitivity Analysis).

For a full overview of all the Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement from V21 and onwards, please visit Overview of Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement features.

Are you using PLAXIS 2D/3D CONNECT Edition V20 and want to upgrade to PLAXIS 2D/3D CONNECT Edition V22?

Please see this article on how the license upgrade is handled. how the licenses transition and what you can do:
PLAXIS CONNECT Edition V21/V22 licensing changes

Overview of functionality

In the tables below, you can find an overview of the features offered in the different Tiers, for e.g.

See the full list below.

Constitutive Soil Models PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Linear elastic X X X
Mohr-Coulomb X X X
Hardening Soil X X X
Hardening Soil Small Strain Stiffness X X X
NGI-ADP X X X
Modified Cam-Clay X X X
Soft Soil   X X
Soft Soil Creep   X X
Sekiguchi Ohta (Viscid)   X X
Sekiguchi Ohta (Inviscid)   X X
Jointed Rock model X X X
Hoek-Brown, with Parameter guide X X X
UDCAM-S and Cyclic Accumulation tool   X X
UBC3D-PLM (Liquefaction)     X
Concrete   X X
User Defined Soil Models   X1 X1
PLAXIS UDSMs   X1 X1
SHANSEP Mohr-Coulomb   X1 X1
SHANSEP NGI-ADP   X1 X1
OverConsolidated Clay (OC-Clay)   X1 X1
Creep-SCLAY1S   X1 X1
Masonry   X1 X1
Visco-elastic perfectly plastic   X1 X1
Generalized Hardening Soil   X1 X1
Hypoplastic model with inter-granular strain   X1 X1
Swelling rock2   X1 X1
Isostropic Jointed Rock with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion   X1 X1
Hoek-Brown with softening (Strength softening and GSI softening models)   X1 X1
N2PC-MCT Rock creep (Norton-based Double Power Creep with MC and Tension cut-off failure surface)NEW   X1 X1
NorSand   X1 X1
Fluid   X1 X1
Frozen and Unfrozen Soil2     X1
PM4Sand2     X1
PM4Silt2     X1
Soil material drainage types
Drained X X X
Undrained A X X X
Undrained B X X X
Undrained C X X X
Non-porous X X X
Groundwater flow material properties
Groundwater properties X X X
Soil classification systems (Hypres, USDA etc) X X X
Predefined data sets for Approximate Van Genuchten models (soil) X X X
Thermal flow material properties2
Thermal properties for soil   X X
Thermal properties for structural elements (excl. embedded beam)   X X
Dynamics material properties
Rayleigh damping for soil     X
Rayleigh damping for structural elements     X
1 Requires GSE
2 PLAXIS 2D only

Structural element material types PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Mohr-Coulomb for Discontinuities2NEW X X X
Plates: Elastic, Elastoplastic X X X
Geogrids: Elastic, Elastoplastic & Viscoelastic X X X
Embedded beams: Elastic, Elastoplastic X X X
Fixed-end anchors: Elastic, Elastoplastic (with residual strength) X X X
Node-to-node Anchors: Elastic, Elastoplastic (with residual strength) X X X
2 PLAXIS 2D only

Calculation types PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Initial stress generation
K0 procedure X X X
Gravity loading X X X
Field stress X X X
Flow only     X
Deformation calculation types
Plastic X X X
Safety analysis X X X
Consolidation   X X
Dynamics     X
Dynamics with consolidation     X
Fully coupled flow-deformation     X
Pore pressure calculation
Phreatic level X X X
Use pore pressures from previous phase X X X
Steady state groundwater flow   X X
Transient groundwater flow     X
Thermal calculation types2
Ignore temperature   X X
Earth gradient   X X
Use temperatures from previous phase   X X
Steady state thermal flow   X X
Transient thermal flow     X
2 PLAXIS 2D only

Project and model properties PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Selection of imperial and SI units for length, force etc. X X X
Plane strain and axi-symmetric models2 X X X
6-noded and 15-noded element types2 X X X
Constants tab in Project properties2   X X
2 PLAXIS 2D only

Geometry creation PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Create Borehole tool X X X
Select, Move, Rotate and Array tools X X X
Create Soil polygon, Soil rectangle tools X X X
Create NURBS Curve and NURBS surface tools3 X X X
Create Polycurve designer tool3 X X X
Intersect, Combine, Extrude, Revolve around Axis tools3 X X X
Loft Polycurve and Blend Surfaces tools3 X X X
Create Point, Line and Surface3 load tools X X X
Create Point, Line and Surface3 prescribed displacement tools X X X
Create Interface tool X X X
Create Discontinuity tool2 X X X
Create Plate, Geogrid tools X X X
Create Fixed-end anchor, Node-to-node anchor tools X X X
Create Embedded beam tool X X X
Create Line contraction tool2 X X X
Create Surface contraction tool3 X X X
Create Well and Drain tools   X X
Create Groundwater flow boundary conditions tools   X X
Create Thermal flow boundary condition tool2   X X
Create Added mass tool     X
Create Moving point load and Moving line load tools3     X
Tunnel Designer X1 X1 X1
Reinforcement (Rockbolts) definition in the Tunnel Designer X1 X1 X1
Reinforcement (Umbrella arches) definition in the Tunnel Designer3 X1 X1 X1
Girder/beam definition in the Tunnel Designer3 X1 X1 X1
Definition of excavation sequence in the Tunnel Designer3 X1 X1 X1
Automatic Generation of staged construction phases for tunnels3 X1 X1 X1
Tunnel splitting tool3 X1 X1 X1
1 Requires GSE
2 PLAXIS 2D only
3 PLAXIS 3D only

Time-dependent functions PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Time-dependent waterlevels     X
Time-dependent groundwater flow boundary conditions     X
Definition of flow functions for head and discharge changes     X
Dynamic components in x, y, or z3 direction for loads     X
Dynamic components in x, y, or z3 direction for displacements     X
Definition of Dynamic multipliers to create vibration signals     X
Definition of movement functions for velocity changes in time3     X
Earthquake signals
Definition of Dynamic multipliers to create earthquake signals     X
Scaling tools for earthquake signals     X
Fourier spectra, response spectra, Arias intensity plots     X
Drift correction for earthquake signals     X
3 PLAXIS 3D only

Dynamics boundary conditions PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Viscous boundaries     X
Tied degrees of freedom2     X
Free field boundaries     X
Compliant base boundary     X
All nodes fixity     X
2 PLAXIS 2D only

Postprocessing & results PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Various ways to display forces, displacements, stresses and strains
  in contour, vector, and iso-surface plots		 X X X
Tables of results with copy, sorting and filter options X X X
Load-Displacement curves X X X
Curve manager to plot graphs of various results X X X
Cross-section tools and cross-section curves X X X
Automatic and manual centerline extraction
  for structural forces plots of volume plates2		 X X X
Automatic and manual centerline extraction
  for structural forces plots of volume piles3		 X X X
Resulting forces view2 X X X
Plot annotations2 X X X
Animations X X X
Report generator X X X
Printing and saving plots & curves X X X
Plots and Curves of accelerations and velocities for Dynamics phases     X
Structural forces envelopes for Dynamic phases     X
Curve plots of Pseudo Spectral Acceleration (PSA)     X
PSA: Switch between time and frequency represenatons     X
Plots and curves of pore pressures
  for phreatic level calculations		 X X X
Plots and curves of pore pressures, saturation, suction, and Darcy flux
  for steady state groundwater flow calculations		   X X
Plots and curves of pore pressures, saturation, suction, and Darcy flux
  for transient groundwater flow		     X
Plots and curves of pore pressures, saturation, suction, and Darcy flux
  for fully coupled flow deformation calculations		     X
Plots and curves of temperature, ice saturation and heat flux
  for steady state thermal flow calculations2		   X X
Plots and curves of temperature, ice saturation and heat flux
  for transient thermal flow2		   X X
Plots and curves of temperature, ice saturation and heat flux
  for full thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled calculations2		   X X
Export of results to Paraview X1 X1 X1
1 Requires GSE
2 PLAXIS 2D only
3 PLAXIS 3D only

Other features, tools and interoperability PLAXIS 2D/3D PLAXIS 2D/3D Advanced PLAXIS 2D/3D Ultimate
Spatial variation of preconsolidation2 X X X
Tunnel deconfinement2 X X X
Create cluster field stress X X X
Staged construction X X X
Automatic regeneration of construction stages X X X
Design approaches2   X X
Pseudostatic analysis   X X
1D Site response analysis tool2     X1
Generate Stratigraphy from imported CPT Logs X1 X1 X1
SoilTest and parameter optimization tool X1 X1 X1
Sensitivity analysis and Parameter variation2 X1 X1 X1
Multicore and parallel calculation   X X
Calculation manager X1 X1 X1
PLAXIS 2D LE model import2 X1 X1 X1
PLAXIS 2D to PLAXIS 3D converter X1 X1 X1
PLAXIS 3D Coupling tool for STAAD.Pro3 X1 X1 X1
Soil structure interaction with structural packages through super element3NEW X1 X1 X1
SACS-PLAXIS Sucket Bucket Analysis tool3 X1 X1 X1
Command line input (Input, Output & SoilTest) X X X
Command line autocomplete (Input, Output & SoilTest) X1 X1 X1
Commands runner (Input, Output & SoilTest) X1 X1 X1
Macro library and running macros (Input, Output & SoilTest) X1 X1 X1
Remote scripting for Input, Output & SoilTest X1 X1 X1
Scripting reference X1 X1 X1
Projectwise integration: loading from ProjectWise server X1 X1 X1
Projectwise integration: saving to ProjectWise server X1 X1 X1
Bentley Cloud Services: personal & project portal X1 X1 X1
Bentley Cloud Services: project association X1 X1 X1
CAD import and export
CAD import and export of common formats X1 X1 X1
CAD: IFC Import3 X1 X1 X1
CAD: import point clouds3 X1 X1 X1
CAD: import parametric and triangulated surfaces3NEW X1 X1 X1
CAD: import Water levels X1 X1 X1
CAD: import Borehole top and bottom surface3 X1 X1 X1
1 Requires GSE
2 PLAXIS 2D only
3 PLAXIS 3D only
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