Loads Overview

Settle3 allows you to apply vertical distributed loads to ground surfaces, in order to model soil settlement due to foundation loads, embankments, fills etc. The load modelling capabilities of Settle3 are summarized below.

• Load Shape - Loads can be of any shape.
• Load Magnitude - Loads can have uniform or variable magnitude.
• Load Depth - Loads can be applied at the ground surface or at some depth below the surface.
• Load Staging - Loads can be staged (i.e. applied at different times, sequences or load increments).
• Excavations - Excavations can be defined, and loading can be applied within excavations.
• Embankments - Embankment loads can be defined with the Embankment Designer.
• Multiple loads - Any number of loads/excavations can be defined in any sequence.
• Pre-Load - The pre-load option allows you to back analyze the load magnitude required to obtain a given settlement at a given stage.
• Fill Load - A fill load is a load where the loading stress is specified with a fill unit weight and height.

• Load Direction - Loading can be applied in both the vertical and horizontal directions.
• Load Type - Loads can be defined as either flexible or rigid. However, rigid loads cannot be used in conjunction with time-dependent consolidation analysis. Rigid loads can only be used to determine immediate elastic settlement or long-term consolidation. Rigid loading is available for rectangular, circular or polygonal loads; it is not available for embankment loads, conical loads or pre-loads, which are always assumed to be flexible.
• Point Loads - Loads must be defined as distributed (i.e. force/area). Concentrated (point or line) loads cannot be explicitly defined. Point or line loads could be modelled as an equivalent distributed load over a small area.

Adding Loads

Loads/excavations are initially defined in the two-dimensional Plan View of the model, using the following options:

• Add Rectangular Load
• Add Circular Load
• Add Polygonal Load
• Add Embankment
• Add Excavation
• Add Pre-Load
• Add Conical Load

See the above links for details.

Editing Loads

After adding loads to a model, they can easily be edited if required. See the Edit Loads topic for details.

Import/Export DXF

Load boundaries can also be imported from a DXF file or exported to a DXF file. See the Import DXF and Export DXF topics for details.