Introduction

In PLAXIS it is possible to create and edit a material data set in several ways, such as in the Material sets window, via the command line and via the Model explorer.

When you define the material in PLAXIS, you can use the command line to validate the material for correctness. Now, since PLAXIS CONNECT Edition V22, it is possible to use the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to check the validity of the material.

The validation of the material definition considers the numerical constraints of the constitutive formulation, such as having the unsaturated weight higher than the saturated weight, zero value of the (elasto)plastic stiffness, zero value of the strength (cohesion or friction angle) and more.

The material side panel – material validation

When creating a new material data set you will notice an overview on the right-side panel. This material validation includes hints, warnings and errors with regards to the current state of the material definition. The side panel is included in the data set window of all soil/rock materials as well as all structures.

Figure 1: The side panel when defining a new soil/rock material

Figure 2: Full feedback when defining a new soil/rock material

The feedback provides information about necessary material properties as well as suggestions for a proper material definition. Each message includes a clear explanation and a link to the relevant property or properties considered.

Note that the errors relate to parameters that are prerequisites to the material definition and must be considered before a calculation starts. For an overview of the minimum material parameters to be correctly defined to run a calculation, refer to the article PLAXIS Soil model numbers in command line.

The side panel will automatically be hidden if there is no feedback based on the current material definition.

The validate command

PLAXIS allows validating the material definition via the command line, too. The command to do this is called validate and can be used as follows:

validate SoilMat_1

Note that instead of SoilMat_1, the name of the current material should be used, e.g. Sand or Clay.

The validate command provides the same feedback as the side panel in the material data set window, which is easy to run and useful with any Python automation.

Figure 3: Full feedback when validating a new soil/rock material via the command line

The validate command also supports the following syntax:

validate SoilMat_1 "errors"
validate SoilMat_1 "warnings"
validate SoilMat_1 "all"