Documentation and Theory Overview
Summary of CPillar
CPillar is an interactive software tool for assessing the stability of surface or underground crown pillars as well as laminated roof beds. It offers three different limit equilibrium analysis methods:
- Rigid Plate analysis
- Elastic Plate analysis
- Voussoir (no tension) Plate analysis
CPillar stability can be assessed using:
- Deterministic Analysis (safety factor)
- Probabilistic Analysis (probability of failure)
In a Deterministic analysis, CPillar calculates the Factor of Safety for a pillar of known dimensions and other input parameters. In a Probabilistic analysis the program allows users to specify statistical distributions for various input parameters, and the number of simulations required. CPillar then computes the Probability of Failure of the pillar by running the analysis the specified number of times, each time generating different values for the stochastic input parameters.
Getting Started
If you are a new user of CPillar, you should begin by completing the CPillar Quick Start tutorial to help familiarize yourself with the software’s main functions.
How to Use this Guide
Documentation
The Documentation tab helps you to get familiar with program features and provides details on specific tools/functions of the software. This section includes topics like terminology, general features, analysis methods, viewing and display options, and more.
Begin with the CPillar Overview page for an overview of the program and analysis assumptions.
Tutorials
The tutorials tab provides easy to follow, step-by-step instructions demonstrating how to use various features of the program and provide guidance for more specific analysis scenarios. It is recommended that you go through as many of the tutorials as possible to get acquainted with the many different capabilities of the software.
Begin with the CPillar - Quick Start Tutorial to learn the basic modelling and data interpretation features of CPillar.
Theory and Verification
The Theory and Verification tab contains a collection of Theory and Verification Manuals for the software. The Verification Examples represent an extensive set of models, from many different sources, which have been used to verify the accuracy of the solutions computed by the program. The Theory Manuals describes the equations used to calculate the stresses acting on a pillar and the factor of safety as well as the theories behind the failure mechanisms of each analysis method.