GGU-DOLPHIN: "System" menu item

Your system is defined using this menu item. Enter the bed of the water body and the water level positive downwards in m below top of dolphin (= 0.00 m).

A base inclination can be entered on the passive side. By activating the "Different force-action directions" check box below, the passive earth pressure is calculated differently depending on the base inclination. In the case of negative base inclination, the passive earth pressure is calculated with flat terrain for load cases WITH working capacity (see following sketch). In the case of positive base inclination, the passive earth pressure is calculated with flat terrain for load cases WITHOUT working capacity.

You can find an example with an inclined base in the "Example Base inclination.ggu_dlb" file in the program's examples folder.

For analysis using Blum's method, you can define a dolphin spacing at the bottom of the dialog box. The spatial passive earth pressure may overlap where the dolphins are closely spaced. This is investigated in appropriate cases. Analysis may be performed using the passive earth pressure for a hypothetical continuous wall.

If you checked the "Use absolute heights" box when defining the system, an additional entry, "Top of dolphin", appears in the dialog box for specifying the absolute position of the dolphin head. In this case, all elevations are entered in line with your stipulations in "Editor 1/Analysis options"; e.g. in [m AD].

If the height of a previously defined system is subsequently set to absolute heights, a query follows leaving the dialog box above asking for confirmation of whether soil strata should be adapted to the new dolphin top. Adaptation would mean that the depth of a soil layer entered as a positive value would be converted from, for example, 30.0 m to an absolute height of -30.0 m AD. If then, you only convert your system to [m AD], do not select any elements in the query box and press the "OK" button.