Building Damage Assessment in DeepEX
- Dec 26, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 25
Evaluate the Impact of Excavation-Induced Settlements on Adjacent Structures
In urban excavation projects, one of the greatest concerns is not simply how much the retaining wall moves—but how those movements affect nearby buildings.
Even relatively small ground settlements can lead to cracking, distortion, serviceability issues, or structural damage in adjacent structures. Engineers are often required to assess these risks during design and provide clear documentation demonstrating that neighboring buildings will remain within acceptable performance limits.
DeepEX helps engineers bridge the gap between excavation analysis and building performance assessment by providing integrated building damage evaluation tools directly within the excavation model.
2D and 3D excavation model settlements - DeepEX
Figure 1: 2D and 3D excavation model settlements in DeepEX
The Challenge: Understanding What Settlement Means for a Building
Most excavation software can estimate wall movements or ground settlements.
However, project teams are often left asking critical questions:
Will nearby buildings experience cracking?
Which walls are most vulnerable?
How severe could the damage become?
Are predicted movements within acceptable limits?
What level of monitoring or mitigation may be required?
Answering these questions typically requires additional calculations, engineering judgment, and the use of separate assessment procedures.
DeepEX simplifies this process by automatically evaluating the impact of predicted settlements on adjacent structures.
Model Buildings Directly Within Your Excavation Analysis
DeepEX allows engineers to include neighboring buildings directly within both 2D and 3D excavation models.
Users can define:
Building geometry
Building height and number of stories
Building footprint dimensions
Foundation geometry and depth
Exterior walls
Interior walls
Columns
Floor slabs
Material properties
Allowable strain limits
This information is combined with predicted excavation-induced ground movements to evaluate building response and potential damage.
Figure 2: Building Properties in DeepEX - Wall thickness and materials
Settlement-Based Damage Assessment
Once excavation-induced settlements have been calculated, DeepEX evaluates how these movements affect the structure.
The software determines:
Differential settlements
Angular distortions
Tensile strains
Compressive strains
Building curvature
Potential crack development
The analysis helps engineers identify critical areas of the structure and understand how settlement patterns translate into potential building damage.
Established Engineering Methodologies
DeepEX incorporates widely accepted building damage assessment approaches, including methodologies developed by Boscardin and Cording and other recognized researchers in the field of excavation-induced damage assessment.
Using these methods, the software can estimate:
Potential crack widths
Building strain levels
Damage severity
Serviceability impacts
The resulting evaluations provide a rational engineering basis for assessing excavation risks in urban environments.
Automatic Damage Classification
For each critical building element, DeepEX automatically classifies the predicted level of damage.
Damage categories may include:
✔ Negligible
✔ Slight
✔ Moderate
✔ Severe
✔ Very Severe
This allows engineers to quickly identify potential concerns and determine whether additional mitigation measures, support systems, monitoring programs, or construction controls may be necessary.
Figure 3: Damage assessment results for each building wall in DeepEX
Evaluate Building Performance in Three Dimensions
DeepEX is the only excavation design software that combines excavation analysis, settlement prediction, and detailed building damage assessment within a single integrated platform.
In 3D models, engineers can evaluate settlement patterns across the entire building footprint and identify localized areas where differential movement may result in elevated damage potential.
This provides a more realistic representation of actual building behavior compared to simplified two-dimensional assessments.
Reduce Project Risk Before Construction Begins
Building damage assessment can play a critical role in:
Deep urban excavations
High-rise developments
Transportation infrastructure projects
Tunnel and station construction
Adjacent building protection studies
Risk management and due diligence reviews
Construction monitoring planning
By identifying potential issues during design, engineers can optimize excavation support systems, adjust construction sequences, and implement mitigation measures before construction begins.
Why Engineers Use DeepEX
DeepEX helps engineers move beyond settlement predictions and understand the actual consequences of excavation-induced ground movements.
With DeepEX, engineers can:
✔ Analyze adjacent building response directly within excavation models
✔ Evaluate differential settlements and angular distortions
✔ Estimate strains and crack development potential
✔ Automatically classify building damage levels
✔ Assess structures in both 2D and 3D excavation analyses
✔ Generate comprehensive documentation for project reviews and risk assessments
Availability
Building Damage Assessment is included in the DeepEX 3D package.
Let us show you how to reduce your design time by up to 90%!