Swelling Rock Model - PLAXIS UDSM

The Swelling Rock model is a user-defined model that can be used to simulate the time-dependent anisotropic swelling of rocks.

The model was originally implemented by Prof. Thomas Benz of NTNU and further developed by Bert Schädlich of TUGraz for PLAXIS. The model is based on previous work by Wittke-Gattermann & Wittke (2004), Anagnostou (1993) and Heidkamp & Katz (2002) and can account for the stress- and time dependency of swelling deformations. The model is available as a user-defined soil model Dynamic Link Library (DLL). This DLL can be obtained from and is supported by Plaxis. However, Plaxis does not accept any responsibility when using this DLL. Hence, the user needs to validate results obtained from this model by him/herself.

Note that the current implementation of the model cannot be used in PLAXIS 3D.

With the release of PLAXIS 2D/3D CONNECT Edition V20 Update 1 (January 2020), the PLAXIS User Defined Soil models are delivered with the PLAXIS installation. When enabling the Geotechnical SELECT Entitlement [GSE] when starting the PLAXIS application, this model becomes available in the Parameters tab when selecting "User defined" for the Material model.

Status May 2015

Added support for undrained calculation types:

• In previous versions the user defined soil model for swelling rock was only implemented for Plastic calculations using a Drained material set. Using this constitutive soil model for other types of calculations (consolidation, fully coupled flow) was not yet allowed. With the version from May 2015 (version 2015.257.0.0), these calculation types can now also be used.