In some cases a numerical problem may occur during calculations in PLAXIS 3D models using the Hoek-Brown model and the 64 bit calculation kernel. You may recognize this by a sudden stop of the calculation process without any message (leaving a phase unmarked for calculation) or for example an error message “plasw364.exe has stopped working“.
Work around for this moment is to switch to the 32 bit calculation kernel. To calculate with the 32 bit calculation kernel you should (temporarily) disable the 64 bit calculation kernel by renaming the file "plasw364.exe" to e.g. "plasw364_release.exe". This calculation kernel file can be found in PLAXIS 3D's installation folder.
In general when using the 32 bit calculation kernel Plaxis models up to approximately 100,000 elements can be solved. In some cases (undrained behaviour, consolidation, etc.) however the maximum allowed number of elements may be smaller. So for larger models it may be that no standard work around is available. Users who run into this situation are requested to contact the Plaxis support department.
This is fixed since PLAXIS 3D 2011.01