GGU-SETTLE: Calculate foundation settlements (Ex. 2)
After defining a foundation, you can have the system calculated. In principle, we can differentiate between analysis of foundation settlements and the analysis of user-defined settlements. The two calculations can also be mixed. With foundation settlement we mean the settlement at special points on the foundation:
settlement in the foundation centre
settlement at the four characteristic points
settlement at the four foundation corners.
If you are only interested in settlement at the above-described foundations points, select the "System/Analyse" menu item.
The analysis can take a lot of time for more complex systems. If you activate the "Use all CPU kernels" check box, all CPU kernels of your computer are used. This can considerably reduce the calculation time.
For analysis of triangular foundations numerical integration is required. The integration precision can be specified in the upper area of the dialog box. The default value is sufficiently small for most problems. If the calculated values appear unusual to you, or if you are somewhat cautious by nature, enter a smaller value. This will, of course, cost you calculation time.
Activate the check box(es) of choice and click "OK". You may see a note on the specified special preferences first. Acknowledge the notes and start the analysis. Information on analysis progress is displayed in the status bar. Once analysis is complete the foundation settlements are entered in the foundation centre, in the corners and in the characteristic points, depending on the preferences specified above.
If you have calculated a system and then edited any input values (e.g. foundation dimensions, foundation stress, type of limiting depth calculation, etc.), the program deletes all calculated settlements, as they are then no longer valid for the altered system. If you have already defined user-defined settlement points within the framework of previous calculations, you can have these settlements recalculated by activating the "Calculate settlements at user-defined points" check box.