Quick start (5 minutes)¶
In five minutes you go from opening the app to reading a bearing-capacity check with settlements. Open nx.geostru.ai/loadcap and follow the steps.
Start from an example
The fastest way to get familiar is to load an example project: menu ? (top) → Resources tab → choose, for instance, Pad footing — NTC 2018. The form fills itself and you can compute right away. See Example projects.
1. General data¶
In the Parameters tab, General data section, set a project description and the reference standard (NTC 2018, Eurocode, or Free for all-free fields).
2. Foundation geometry¶
In Type and geometry choose the type — strip, pad, raft, circular — and enter the dimensions: base B, length L, height H, founding depth D. On the right the section preview updates in real time. See Foundation and geometry.
3. Stratigraphy and water table¶
In Stratigraphy define the layers (thickness, unit weight γ, friction angle φ′, cohesion c′, and the deformability parameters). You can paste a table from Excel or import a stratigraphy from Dynamic Probing NX. In the Water table card you set presence and depth from ground level. See Stratigraphy and water table.
4. Loads and combinations¶
In Design loads enter the combinations. For each one choose the approach (which prefills the partial factors) and the loads at the founding plane: pressure q, or N with any moments Mx/My and shears Hx/Hy. ULS combinations drive the bearing capacity, SLS ones drive the settlements. See Loads and combinations.
5. Calculation methods¶
In the Calculation methods card enable the methods to compare (Terzaghi, Meyerhof, Hansen, Vesic, Brinch-Hansen, Meyerhof-Hanna). The governing method is the one with the lowest design resistance.
6. Compute¶
Press Compute in the top bar. The calculation consumes NX credits.
Previews with no charge
Previews (2D section, stress state, seismic spectrum, HTML report) update for free: credits are spent only with Compute and when exporting the report.
7. Results¶
Open Bearing capacity: for each combination you see, per method, the ultimate load q_lim, the design resistance R_d = q_lim / γ_R,v, the service pressure, the safety factor and the outcome Verified / Not verified. Where a horizontal action is present the sliding check also appears. See Bearing capacity.
8. Settlements¶
The Settlements tab shows, for the selected service (SLS) combination, the elastic and oedometric settlements per layer, the optional Burland & Burbidge estimate and the time curve. See Settlements.
9. Report and export¶
From the Report menu you generate the calculation document in Word or
PDF; from the File menu you save the project (.lcnx). See
Report and exports.
The AI assistant
The AI assistant button at the top explains the results, fills the form from a report or a test file, and performs a geotechnical review of the project. See AI assistant.
Found an error on this page? Let us know or open a Pull Request.