How can I define a soil improvement zone in DeepEX?

In many instances, it is necessary to perform soil improvement procedures (such as jet grouting) to enhance the performance of soil materials. DeepEX, our shoring design software, includes a tool that allows you to define a zone within the soil mass at any desired location (e.g., active side, passive side, between two walls, etc.) and assign a different soil type to simulate the improved soil properties.

To simulate ground improvement or backfill with a different material in DeepEX, follow these steps using the "Draw a Custom Soil Zone" tool:

1. Define Improved Soil Properties

Open the soil types dialog and add a new soil type (or edit an existing one) to reflect the improved soil properties.

Figure 1: Defining a new soil type in DeepEX, simulating the improved soil properties

2. Define the Custom Soil Zone

• Access the construction stage where you wish to apply the soil improvement.

• Use the "Draw a Layer Zone" tool located in the Custom Soil Layers drop-down menu (note that the custom soil layers do not need to be active to use this option).

• Click on points in the model area to define the corners of the new layer zone. Note the following:

• The number of clicks should match the desired number of zone corners. For a rectangular zone, click four times, once for each corner, in a clockwise direction.

• Do not click again on the first point to close the shape.

• After the last corner click, press the ENTER key on your keyboard.

Figure 2: Drawing a new soil zone in DeepEX

3. Assign Soil Type to the Zone

• After pressing ENTER, the soil zone will be generated. Double-click on the zone and select the soil type you wish to use.

Figure 3: Defining the soil zone soil type in DeepEX

• In the same dialog, you can edit the point coordinates. Note that the points appear in reverse order from how you clicked them (the first click appears at the bottom of the table, the second click one place above, etc.).

Figure 4: Editing the soil zone corner point coordinates

• When adjusting the point coordinates, avoid defining perfectly vertical lines (points with the same X coordinate but different elevation). Ensure there is some difference in the X coordinates, even if it is minimal. You can conceal the transition within the wall thickness.

Figure 5: New corner point coordinates – avoid vertical lines

Figure 6: Braced excavation with an activated soil zone – DeepEX analysis results graphs

By following these steps, you can effectively simulate and analyze soil improvement within DeepEX.

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