ABSTRACT
This paper gives my personal view on Plaxis today. Plaxis is a well working, effective program, characterized by a simple user interface and robustness. Plaxis version 7 now really shifts focus from Plaxis as a finite element program for specialists to Plaxis as a design tool for practice. The drawing board input and automatic mesh generation is a key in this respect. The current development falls into the picture from other engineering fields where we can test-drive on an un-built road or walk around inside a non-existing building in virtual reality. In our field Plaxis offers simulations of a not yet built structure and reveals its behavior, opening for improved and interactive design. A revolution in the application of information technology in Engineering is going on and Plaxis is taking an active part. The paper addresses the Soft Soil Creep Model, which is a significant scientific new development implemented in version 7. The importance of user training is stressed. In teaching the application of Plaxis we must focus on basic geotechnical principles and knowledge of material behavior as well as evaluation of computed results.
