“Crack links transform a scattered fracture cloud into a deterministic failure pathway – Rocscience lets you generate, detect, and analyse them in minutes.”
To establish the "Link" between the crack and the water pressure: rocscience slide3 crack link
Pressure Distribution: The Crack Link interpolates the water pressure across the finite element mesh on the crack surface. This allows for non-linear pressure distributions, which are critical for deep-seated cracks that intersect varying phreatic levels. “Crack links transform a scattered fracture cloud into
Users define a crack by specifying a plane orientation (Dip and Dip Direction) and extent, or by importing a triangulated surface. The crack is treated as a "Joint" entity. In Slide3, this is often managed under the Geology > Joints menu, where a joint network or a single persistent joint can be defined. To establish the "Link" between the crack and
Three-dimensional limit equilibrium (LE) and finite element (FEM) analyses are standard practices in modern geotechnical engineering. However, the accuracy of these analyses depends heavily on the model's ability to simulate weak planes. In open-pit mining and natural slope stability, tension cracks often form at the crest of a slope, reducing the effective normal stress along the failure surface and providing a reservoir for water pressure.
The "Crack" feature in Slide3 allows users to define a persistent discontinuity surface. The "Crack Link" functionality further enhances this by allowing the crack to interact with the hydraulic model, specifically linking the crack geometry to water pressure distributions. This paper details the theoretical basis of this feature and outlines the workflow for its application.