DIPS orientation analysis: stereonet workflows and kinematic checks for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on Geoengineer.org – News
30 Second Briefing
DIPS (Data Integration using Projected Stereonets) is being positioned as the new standard for stereonet-based orientation analysis, building on more than 30 years of use in geotechnical engineering. The software supports detailed structural mapping workflows, allowing engineers to import large orientation datasets and analyse joint sets, foliation, and discontinuity patterns directly on stereonets. For slope stability, underground excavation design, and rock mass characterisation, it enables consistent kinematic checks and data integration across projects, reducing manual plotting and interpretation time.
Technical Brief
- DIPS supports both equal-area and equal-angle stereonet projections for detailed structural analysis.
- Users can toggle between pole, contour, great-circle and rose-diagram views from the same dataset.
- Large datasets are handled via batch import from mapping files, borehole logs and scanline surveys.
- Filtering tools allow subsetting by domain, lithology, depth interval, date or mapping campaign.
- Kinematic tools integrate friction angle envelopes and slope/drive orientation to flag potential failure modes.
- Discontinuity sets can be defined interactively, with automatic calculation of mean orientation and dispersion.
- Integration with other Rocscience tools enables direct transfer of joint set definitions into numerical models.
- For multi-pit or multi-level mining operations, consistent stereonet templates standardise orientation workflows across sites.
Our Take
Within the 19 Software stories in our coverage, very few tools have a 30‑year software_lifetime, which signals that DIPS sits in the same ‘infrastructure’ tier as long‑entrenched mine planning and slope design packages rather than newer, more experimental apps.
A software_lifetime of more than 30 years usually means workflows, training material and corporate standards in geotechnical teams are already built around the tool, so any ‘new standard’ release is likely to focus on backward compatibility and incremental capability rather than wholesale workflow change.
For Projects-tagged Software pieces in our database, long‑lived products like DIPS tend to be embedded at feasibility and operational review stages, which means even modest interface or analysis upgrades can have outsized impact on how orientation data is interpreted across multiple active sites.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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