DIPS7.0 It s been 3 years since the release of Dips 6.0, so it s time for an upgrade! The latest version of our popular stereonet program - Dips 7.0 - is scheduled for release in early 2016. If you would like to sign up for the beta testing program let us know. Here are some of the new features you can look forward to: 3D Stereosphere Curved Boreholes Joint Spacing / RQD Analysis Contour Arbitrary Data on Stereonet Intersection Calculator 64 bit support and more! Kinematic Sensitivity Analysis Click here to be a Dips 7.0 Beta Tester!
3D Stereosphere The 3D Stereosphere allows you to plot poles, planes and contours on a 3D hemisphere view, which is the basis for generating a 2D stereonet. The 3D hemisphere can be rotated for viewing at any angle. This allows you to see the raw orientation data, before projection onto 2D. This is a valuable educational and analysis tool which provides an alternative to the traditional 2-dimensional stereonet. 3D hemisphere showing contours, poles, mean planes, and 2D equal area projection 3D display options include poles, planes, contours, projection lines, and 2D stereonet using equal angle or equal area projection. The 3D stereosphere does not affect the analysis performed on the 2D stereonet, it is an independent viewing option. Dips 7.0 Beta 1
Projection of poles from 3D hemisphere to 2D stereonet using equal AREA projection (LEFT) and equal ANGLE projection (RIGHT) Curved Borehole Analysis One of the major new features in Dips 7.0 will be the ability to input and analyze data from curved boreholes. You will be able to import Survey and Collar files, and Dips will process the data automatically without the need for the user to manually sub-divide curved boreholes into linear segments. This feature is currently under development but you can certainly expect this option to be in the beta testing and final versions of the program. Stay tuned! Re-designed Traverse Information dialog, including new Televiewer option for boreholes. Dips 7.0 Beta 2
Joint Spacing Analysis Dips 7.0 allows you to calculate true Joint Spacing from apparent spacing measurements recorded along a linear or borehole traverse. To calculate joint spacing: 1. Define linear traverses (scanline or borehole) 2. Define a distance column 3. Define joint sets Dips will then calculate true spacings for each joint set, using the apparent spacings recorded in the distance column, weighted by the traverse orientation. Mean and standard deviation are calculated and results can be graphed or exported for any traverse / set combination. Dialog for selecting traverse / set for joint spacing Distribution of true joint spacing for Set 1, all traverses Dips 7.0 Beta 3
Kinematic Sensitivity Analysis The Kinematic Analysis option in Dips now offers an additional feature: Kinematic Sensitivity Analysis of slope parameters. Kinematic analysis template for planar sliding With the Kinematic Sensitivity option, you can enter a range of values for: slope dip slope dip direction friction angle lateral limits and plot the results for different failure modes (e.g. planar sliding, wedge sliding, toppling). The plots allow you to quickly see the effect of individual variables, while keeping others constant at their mean values. Dips 7.0 Beta 4
In the following graph, the probability of planar sliding is analyzed for a 0 to 360 degree range of slope dip direction. The mean values of each variable are listed at the bottom of the plot. Sensitivity graph of planar sliding vs. slope dip direction You can plot multiple graphs on a single plot, for example the following plot shows slope angle and friction angle varied over ranges of 0 to 90 and 0 to 60. If you click on any point on a graph, the stereonet will display the slope parameters used to generate that particular value. Dips 7.0 Beta 5
Sensitivity graph of two variables slope angle and friction angle When you plot multiple variables on one graph, the horizontal axis is in terms of percent of range for all variables. Dips 7.0 Beta 6
Contour Arbitrary Data on Stereonet In addition to contouring pole densities, Dips 7.0 allows you to contour the magnitude of other quantitative directional variables on the stereonet, for example, stress magnitude. This option is accessed by selecting the Data Column option in the Contour Data dialog, and selecting the quantitative data column that you would like to contour. Contours of principal stress magnitudes Contour Options dialog with quantitative Data Column option selected Dips 7.0 Beta 7
Intersection Calculator A new addition to the stereonet toolkit is the Intersection Calculator. You can now easily find the exact intersection of two planes, or the plane which passes through two points. Dips 7.0 Beta 8
Display Traverse Orientations Traverse Orientations can now be displayed with a mouse click. Select the Traverses checkbox in the sidebar visibility options, and all traverse orientations will be displayed on the stereonet. Linear traverses are displayed as points and planar traverses as great circle and pole. In the examples below: (i) the data comes from two boreholes, which are shown on the plot as green circles T:1 and T:2. (ii) the traverses are horizontal tunnel scanlines which plot on the perimeter of the stereonet. (i) (ii) Display of traverse orientations on stereonet 64 bit support Dips 7.0 has been updated to a 64 bit version allowing for full memory usage and solving of larger problem sizes on 64 bit machines. More Features Additional features under development are: RQD / joint frequency calculation for traverses (similar to the Joint Spacing option) Quadrant notation input Direct links to export data to Swedge / RocPlane Improved display of failure mode for wedge sliding kinematic analysis (single or double plane sliding) Other usability and interface improvements. Dips 7.0 Beta 9
Summary Dips 7.0 is a must-have upgrade that you will not want to miss. To be a Dips 7.0 beta tester, click here to fill out the survey! Dips 7.0 Beta 10