External Force
External Forces (e.g. a blast acceleration acting in a known direction) can be applied to the wedge, with the External Forces option in the Input Data dialog. To include External Forces in the analysis:
- Select the Number of External Forces.
- Enter the Trend, Plunge and Magnitude of each force.
- Select the Apply button to run the analysis.
Implementation of External Forces
In the SWedge analysis, an External Force is exactly equivalent to a rock bolt, using the ACTIVE bolt model. That is, an External Force with the same orientation as a rock bolt, and with a Magnitude equal to the Capacity of the rock bolt, will have exactly the same effect on the Safety Factor, if the bolt model is ACTIVE. See the How Bolts are Implemented in SWedge topic for more information.
Display of External Forces
If External Forces have been applied to a model, the Forces will be represented on the model, as purple arrows at the center of the wedge face. These arrows are symbolic and indicate the direction and existence of External Forces. They do NOT indicate the magnitude of the forces. The display of these arrows can be turned on or off, and the default arrow colour can be changed, in the Display Options dialog. If multiple External Forces have been applied, the External Resultant can be displayed, rather than the individual forces.