Last Updated July 17, 2017
QUAKE/W is a geotechnical finite element CAD software product for the dynamic analysis of earth structures subjected to earthquake shaking, or point dynamic forces from a blast or a sudden impact load. QUAKE/W determines the motion and excess pore-water pressures that arise due to shaking. Its comprehensive formulation makes QUAKE/W well suited to analyzing a wide range of problems.
Generalized material property functions allow you to use any laboratory or published data. Three constitutive models are supported: a Linear-Elastic model, an Equivalent Linear model, and an effective stress Non-Linear model. QUAKE/W uses the Direct Integration Method to compute the motion and excess pore-water pressures arising from inertial forces at user-defined time steps.
QUAKE/W can be used to analyze almost any dynamic earthquake problem you will encounter in your geotechnical, civil, and mining engineering projects.
Beginning an analysis is as simple as defining the geometry by drawing regions and lines that identify soil layers, or by importing a DXF™ file. Then specify material properties, import earthquake records, and apply boundary conditions and structural elements.
Once you have solved your analysis, QUAKE/W offers many tools for viewing results. Animate the motion by viewing the displacements for successive steps. Look at the complete displacement, velocity and acceleration history record at key points. Perform a spectral analysis at these points to study the ground motion frequency and seismic characteristics. Generate contours or x-y plots of stress, strain, pore-water pressure, and over 35 other parameters. Show the shaded liquefaction zone. View any stress state as a Mohr Circle with the associated space-force diagrams. Then prepare the results for your report by adding labels, axes, and pictures, or export the results into other applications such as Microsoft® Excel® for further analysis.
QUAKE/W can model the dynamic behavior of almost any earth structure, including: