Master Plaxis 2D – From Fundamentals to Advanced Geotechnical Applications

🌍 About This Tutorial

Plaxis 2D is a finite element software package specifically developed for the analysis of deformation, stability, and groundwater flow in geotechnical engineering projects.

🎥 What You’ll Learn

This free video tutorial series demonstrates how to:

  • Quickly create complex finite element models with the Graphical Input program

  • Visualize results in detail using the Output program

  • Apply numerical modeling techniques to practical geotechnical problems

📚 Covered Applications

The tutorials include real-world case studies, such as:

  • Settlement of circular foundations on sand layers.

  • Stability of road embankments constructed on soft soil, evaluating both long-term drained and short-term undrained stability.

  • Tunnel construction using various techniques, including shield tunnelling with a TBM and the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM).

  • Submerged and dry excavations supported by diaphragm walls, horizontal struts, and prestressed ground anchors.

  • Rock slope stabilization for road cuts, utilizing cable reinforcements and retaining walls to prevent planar failure.

  • Groundwater flow and dewatering applications, such as seepage through embankments and lowering water tables for excavations.

  • Dynamic soil-structure interaction, including vibrations from generators, the process of pile driving, and earthquake analysis of multi-storey buildings.

  • Environmental and specialized geotechnical problems, such as the thermal expansion of a concrete navigable lock, ground freezing for watertight tunnel barriers, and moisture content variations in agricultural fields.

🛠️ Key Skills You’ll Gain

  • Defining soil stratigraphy

  • Creating structural elements

  • Generating finite element meshes

  • Setting up calculation phases

  • Evaluating and interpreting output results

👉 Whether you are a beginner or an experienced engineer, this tutorial will help you master Plaxis 2D effectively in a short time.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 2. Drained and undrained stability of an embankment

This case simulates the construction of an embankment on clay to evaluate safety factors for both long-term drained and short-term undrained soil stability.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 4. Stabilisation of a rock slope

This tutorial explores road cut excavation in a rock mass, focusing on stabilizing a planar failure along a discontinuity using cable reinforcements.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 5. Settlements due to tunnel construction

The construction of a shield tunnel using a TBM is simulated to analyze its impact on a nearby pile-founded building, accounting for volume loss and stress redistribution.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 6. Excavation of an NATM tunnel [GSE]

This case analyzes the staged construction of a tunnel using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) and the deconfinement method to emulate 3D arching effects.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 7. Dry excavation using a tie back wall [ADV]

A dry excavation supported by concrete diaphragm walls and prestressed ground anchors is modeled, incorporating groundwater flow to determine the new pore pressure distribution.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 8. Dry excavation using a tie back wall – ULS [ADV]

This tutorial introduces the Design Approaches feature to perform Ultimate Limit State (ULS) calculations for the tie back wall case using partial safety factors for loads and materials.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 9. Construction of a road embankment [ADV]

This analysis focuses on the time-dependent consolidation of an embankment on soft soil, comparing the efficiency of vertical drains and investigating large-deformation effects through updated mesh settings.

Plaxis 2D Tutorial 19. Freeze pipes in tunnel construction [ULT]

This case illustrates ground freezing using cooling pipes to create a watertight barrier for tunnel construction, focusing on the coupling between thermal flow and groundwater flow.