What’s New in MINEDW v9.7

Faster Groundwater Model Building with v9.7

MINEDW version 9.7 introduces a powerful new Sketch Tool that streamlines mesh generation, one of the most time-consuming steps in groundwater modeling. Built specifically for mining hydrogeology and geomechanics applications, MINEDW helps engineers predict groundwater inflows to open pits and underground workings, design dewatering systems, evaluate post-mining lake filling, and integrate groundwater conditions into geomechanical analyses.

This release focuses on reducing preprocessing effort by bringing advanced meshing capabilities directly into MINEDW, making model creation faster, more intuitive, and less dependent on external software.

Key Updates at a Glance

• New Sketch Tool for integrated geometry creation and mesh generation.
• Import DXF and STL files directly as meshing frameworks.
• Automatic conversion of vector geometry into a finite element mesh.
• Hard-node functionality to preserve critical locations such as pumping and monitoring wells.
• Automatic mesh quality visualization and cleanup tools.
• Direct export from Sketch into MINEDW models.
• Simplified workflows for creating 3D groundwater models from elevation data.
• Enhanced interoperability with FLAC3D and IMAT through pore pressure export.

Read on to learn how MINEDW 9.7 can accelerate groundwater model development and improve integration with geomechanical workflows.

The New Sketch Tool: Bringing Meshing Directly into MINEDW

One of the most significant additions in MINEDW 9.7 is the new Sketch Tool. Previously, many users relied on external CAD or meshing software to create finite element meshes before importing them into MINEDW. Version 9.7 eliminates much of this effort by allowing users to create and edit geometry directly within the software.

Users can:

• Create Sketch sets entirely within MINEDW.
• Draw lines, polylines, and points interactively.
• Import existing engineering CAD files.
• Convert imported geometry directly into finite element model boundaries.
• Generate and refine meshes without leaving the MINEDW environment.

For users already familiar with the Sketch workflows in FLAC2D or FLAC3D, the interface and functionality will feel immediately familiar.

Real-Time Mesh Quality Feedback

MINEDW now provides instant visual feedback during mesh creation.

Elements with poor aspect ratios are automatically highlighted in orange, making it easy to identify and correct potential problem areas before running analyses. Users can modify nodes, merge geometry, and regenerate meshes until satisfactory element quality is achieved.

This helps reduce mesh-related numerical issues and improves confidence in simulation results.

Preserve Critical Monitoring and Well Locations with Hard Nodes

Groundwater models often rely on comparisons between simulated results and field measurements from wells or piezometers.

MINEDW 9.7 introduces Hard Nodes, allowing users to specify locations that must become mesh nodes during generation.

By ensuring mesh nodes exist at these exact coordinates, users can obtain model outputs directly at monitoring locations without interpolation, improving model calibration and validation.