ITASCA Minneapolis

Thanks, Thierry Lavoie, for sharing your research using PFC3D rigid blocks: "Development and Validation of a Novel Rigid Block Modelling Approach for Support Design in Underground Mining: Enabling New Avenues for Improved Safety and Efficiency." This is an exciting new approach for simulating complex failure mechanisms in a gravitational stress environment and optimizing ground support selection and installation timing. #Mining #MiningEngineering #UndergroundMining #MiningSolutions #DeepMining #MiningInnovation #MineSafety #GroundSupport #RockMechanics #Geomechanics #NumericalModeling #DEM #PFC #GeoMecModeling #Itasca

Thrilled to see @Miguel Fuenzalida featured as a key faculty member of the Caving-Engineering Diploma (CED). Miguel’s deep expertise in rock mechanics and his practical approach bring invaluable real-world perspective to the program. The CED continues to set the standard for training the next generation of mining professionals with world-class instruction and real-world relevance. Congratulations to everyone involved — a fantastic initiative shaping the future of underground mining!

WEBINAR: Learn about ITASCA France's FLAC3D modeling of the Porte Maillot station in Paris, France. 🔷 REGISTER: https://lnkd.in/gBNGYGz4 🗓️ Wednesday, July 16, 2005 🕙 9:00 am (CDT) | 4:00 pm (CEST) | UTC-06:00 The Porte Maillot station (GPM) was one of the most challenging structures of the EOLE project in Paris, involving the extension of the RER E line (Regional Express Rail line) to the West of the city. This station was built in a very complex urban environment, with many sensitive existing structures in the vicinity (in particular the Metro Line 1). A very detailed monitoring system of both the ground and the structures (existing and new) was installed in order to verify the consistency of the predicted versus measured displacements. As discrepancies were found, a back-analysis was carried out to re-evaluate the estimation of the geotechnical parameters of the ground. A 3D model developed in FLAC3D was then developed using these revised parameters, providing a more realistic prediction of the final deformations of the existing adjacent structures. This work was originally presented by Dr. Marco Camusso at ITASCA's Toronto Symposium in 2024. Lauriane Bouzeran, General Manager of ITASCA France, will be available to take your questions after the presentation. We look forward to sharing our work with you. #ITASCA #ITASCAFrance #FLAC3D #PorteMaillotStation #UrbanConstruction #CivilEngineering #GeotechnicalEngineering #SubwaySystem #UndergroundConstruction #Tunneling #Tunnelling #Monitoring #NumericalModeling #GroundSupport #GroundReinforcement

COMING SOON — Griddle 3! Join our WEBINAR to learn what's new. REGISTER: https://lnkd.in/gM8TwekG 🗓️July 24, 2025 🕙10:00 AM CDT (3 PM UTC) Griddle 3, advanced meshing tools for 3D numerical modeling, will make your work even faster, more reliable, and more flexible: ✅GCollapse – A new tool for collapsing and intersecting meshes. ✅GHeal – Faster, more robust surface mesh healing with support for more issue types and better mesh cleaning capabilities. ✅GExtend – Try new functionality to extend one mesh to the intersection with another to easily close gaps between the meshes. ✅GExtrude – Now handles complex multiply-connected surface meshes with internal holes to easily build model domains. ✅Speed and versatility – Many Griddle operations are now multithreaded and much faster, and two instances of Griddle can now be run at the same time on any ITASCA license type. ✅You’ll also find improvements across mesh intersection capabilities, volume meshing, mesh extraction, and interactivity—especially useful for complex modeling or high-volume workflows. #Griddle #Rhino3D #ITASCA #Software #Meshing #NumericalModeling #Meshes #CAD #FLAC3D #3DEC #VolumeMeshing #3DMeshing

This is a fantastic way for 3DEC users to sharpen their skills—or for new users to get up to speed on modeling complex fracture networks. A valuable resource for anyone working with jointed rock systems!

Christian Cancino Martínez is presenting his work regarding slope movements at Åknes in Norway. A great contribution from ITASCA Minneapolis at #EUROCK2025

Anyone involved in underground stope design knows it's a constant balancing act: recovering as much ore as possible while keeping the structure stable and the workplace safe. Add the uncertainty of predicting dilution, and the challenge gets even bigger. In this project at ITASCA Chile, we combined FLAC3D simulations with machine learning to build a predictive model that goes beyond traditional charts. The goal is to support faster and more flexible decision-making without losing touch with each site's geomechanical reality. What if your stope design could learn from 8,000 simulations? Continue reading! 🤓

Progress, inspiration, and the evolving face of geomechanics. Itasca is proud to be part of the future of geosciences working with leaders making meaningful contributions to the field through their expertise, leadership, and passion. #WomenInSTEM #RockMechanics #DiversityInEngineering #Geomechanics #ARMA25 #ItascaConsulting

ITASCA at ARMA 2025 – We're Here! The ARMA 2025 conference is officially underway, and the Itasca team is on-site and energized to kick things off! As leaders in geomechanics software and consulting, we’re proud to support the advancement of rock mechanics and the incredible global community that drives it. Visit us at the Itasca booth to experience firsthand how our cutting-edge tools—FLAC3D, 3DEC, PFC, MassFlow, XSite, and the all-new IMAT—are transforming how engineers and researchers solve the most complex underground challenges. Let’s make this a great week of innovation, collaboration, and breakthrough insights. See you at ARMA! #ARMA2025 #Geomechanics #ItascaSoftware #RockMechanics #MiningInnovation #NumericalModeling #IMAT #FLAC3D #3DEC #MassFlow #PFC #XSite #ItascaAtARMA

Check out the technical papers and presentations by ITASCA Minneapolis staff at ARMA 2025 in Santa Fe next week! 🔹 Fairy Circle: A Manifestation of Natural Hydrogen? by Christine Detournay, Martin Schöpfer, Gabor Tari Fairy circles are natural circular surface depressions devoid of vegetation that are widely distributed on the Earth’s surface. These distinctive formations have only recently been associated with natural hydrogen production within their perimeter. Although they are the object of keen interest by scientists in search of clean energy sources, little is known about the origin of the gas and the formation of fairy circles. In this paper, gas seepage from an underground point source through a saturated porous medium is studied numerically to explore potential implications for identifying new energy resources. 🔹 Strength Reduction Slope Stability Analyses Using the Curved Mohr-Coulomb Model, by Zhao Cheng The conventional Mohr-Coulomb model assumes a linear shear failure criterion. However, extensive experimental studies reveal that geomaterials, particularly at low confining stresses, exhibit a nonlinear failure envelope, suggesting a curved strength model more representative of material behavior across a broader stress range. This linear assumption can introduce significant inaccuracies in safety assessments, particularly when evaluating shallow slip surfaces in slope stability analyses. This study examines the numerical slope stability analysis using the strength reduction method by adopting a newly implemented curved Mohr-Coulomb strength model in FLAC3D, emphasizing the impacts of a nonlinear failure envelope, stress-dependent dilation, and 3D conditions on factor of stability. 🔹 A Coupled Continuum-Discontinuum Framework for Thermal-Hydro-Mechanical Modeling of Deep Geological Repository for Nuclear Waste Disposal, by Wei Fu Ensuring the long-term safety of nuclear repository centers by assessing the evolution of damage to the repository due to repository-induced and geological perturbations and evaluating the stability of the placement rooms for the duration of the regulatory period is challenging because it involves multiple physical processes. These processes are coupled and occur across temporal and spatial scales (stress redistribution due to excavation, temperature-induced stresses after emplacement of the waste, groundwater pore pressure changes due to mechanical and temperature changes, stress changes due to environmental loading). In this paper, we present a coupled continuum-discontinuum framework to merge near- and far-field models, keeping the needed spatial and temporal discretization levels, with the near-field model seamlessly incorporated into the far-field model for thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) modeling analysis. #ARMA #ARMARocks2025 #RockMechanics #GeoMechanics #NumericalModeling #ITASCA