Common Model Objects

The model objects described in this section are not specific to any one program but are commonly available to each of the following Itasca programs: PFC2D, PFC3D, FLAC3D, and 3DEC — hence the appellation “common.” This means that there is a significant amount of knowledge transferability between these programs. Grasp of the way groups work in PFC, for instance, is sufficient to confer an understanding of how they will work in FLAC3D. In any of these programs the objects found here achieve the same kinds of purposes, have the same underlying logic, and operate under the same assumptions.

This documentation, therefore, is split such that everything that is common to the programs is contained in the section Program Guide, and the aspects that are specific to specific programs are in sections that follow (that is, FLAC3D, PFC, and 3DEC). This partitioning helps to easily identify the distinction between program-specific objects and Itasca-software-wide modeling constructs. For commands and FISH that are specific to PFC, FLAC3D, and 3DEC respectively, see PFC Model Objects, FLAC3D Commands and FISH, and 3DEC Commands and FISH.

[CS: candidate for complete removal here] Users who do have experience with past versions may wish to visit the ref-Application <application>- element first, as this contains the largest remnant of the old “Command Reference” material within the current documentation.

This section contains the following topics.