Problem description

In PLAXIS 2D 2010, in random cases there was a problem with the calculation of consolidation phases in models with 15-noded elements (in the classical and advanced mode). You will notice that the consolidation phase fails/stops directly at the start of calculation or does not start calculation at all. This behaviour is the result of a bug in the calculation kernel.

This has been fixed since PLAXIS 2D 2011.00
 

Solution

The following workarounds are available:

1. in some cases changing the generated mesh (due to a local refinement, etc.) with a regeneration of stages and a recalculation is sufficient, this is however not a robust method;
2. a robust work around is to use 6-noded elements instead of 15-noded elements. If the user notices that results are now less accurate than he/she desires, a mesh refinement can be considered;
3. users that prefer to work with 15-noded elements are requested to contact our support department since for this case there is no standard workaround available, but in most cases a solution can be found.