The ability to specify a single bond strength between a soil nail and the surrounding soil (using CIRIA guidance or preliminary test data) does not work if the soil is layered. The user should be able to specify the bond strength for each strata.

Two current ideas:

1. a simple proportioning of the contributions to a point's displacements based on how many sides contribute, if 2, then each 50%, if 3, then each 30% etc. But may also need consideration for the angle. Simple geometrical solution (with warning) if nothing better received.




2. a geometric solution which could be coded and compared to finite element analysis.

Same ideas can apply to changes in ground movement curve between one wall and another.

This would allow interaction with specific program functions from within a spreadsheet, for example. So a user could set up text data and analyse it, or amend data and carry out bulk analysis to check sensitivity to certain parameters, or extract results for post processing.

Implementation of soil layering formulation as per Geogiadis M (1983). Development of p-y Curves for Layered Soils. Proc. Geotechnical Practice in Offshore Engineering, ASCE, pp. 536-545.

Ribbon interfaces (like Microsoft Office etc) have advantages in that commands are more easily put in front of the user at the appropriate time. Frequently used commands can be added to a custom toolbar.