The Virtual Geoscience Workbench, VGW: Open Source tools for discontinuous systems

In 1989 work began on merging finite and discrete elements. During 1990 algorithmic solutions for the new combined method were developed, together with a C-based implementation known as the Y code. In 2004 these developments and implementations were published as a textbook. Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Imperial College are currently engaged in a research project to make Y codes in both 2D and 3D available in Open Source format and with mainly geoscience problems in mind. The result is a set of Open Source tools for Geoscience (VGW), key components of which are summarised in this paper, together with illustrative range of simulation results.