Units

The model units can be determined on the Units tab of the Project Settings dialog. The Project Settings dialog can be chosen from the toolbar, or the Analysis menu.

Time Units

The Time Units are applicable for finite element solid analysis, groundwater analysis, consolidation analysis, dynamic analysis, thermal analysis and determine the following:

• The Time Units used to define stages for a transient groundwater analysis.
• The Time Units used for time dependent output quantities such as discharge velocity and flow rate through discharge sections. This is applicable for both steady state and transient groundwater analysis.

You may choose from seconds, minutes, hours, days, months or years. Note: for computational purposes, 1 month is assumed to be 1/12 of a year or 365/12 = about 30.4 days.

If you are not performing finite element groundwater analysis, then the Time Units have no effect on input or output data.

Solid

A variety of metric and imperial measurement units are available for Stress Units. You may select one of the following options:

• Metric units (stress) - MPa, kPa, tonnes/m2
• Imperial units (stress) - ksf, psf, tons/ft2

After selection, all input parameters for solids (e.g. material properties, field stress) will correspond to the selected stress measurement unit. Hover your mouse over the tooltip icon beside Solid, a list of incorporated solid units will display.

NOTE: Whenever the Stress Units is changed in the Project Settings dialog, the currently selected units automatically become the default Stress Units system for all NEW files. The original default system is Metric – Mpa.

Groundwater

The Permeability Units are applicable if you are performing finite element groundwater seepage analysis, either steady state or transient.

The available Permeability Units depend on the selection of Stress Units (metric or imperial). The selected Permeability Units determine the corresponded units in the Define Hydraulic Properties dialog. Hover your mouse over the tooltip icon beside Groundwater, a list of incorporated groundwater units will display.

NOTE: If you are not performing finite element groundwater analysis, then the Permeability Units have no effect on input or output data.

Thermal

The thermal units are applicable if you are performing finite element thermal analysis, either steady or transient. The selected thermal units determine the units in the Define Thermal Properties dialog. The thermal units are determined in by the combination of Conductivity Units, Temperature Units, and Energy Units. Hover your mouse over the tooltip icon, a list of thermal properties units will display.

• The Conductivity Units can be chosen from seconds, minutes, hour, days, months, or years.
• The Temperature Units can be chosen from Celsius, Kelvin, or Fahrenheit.
• The Energy Units can be chosen from Joules, kJ, MJ, calories, kCal, kWh, or BTU.

NOTE: If you are not performing finite element thermal analysis, then the thermal units will have no effect on input or output data.