Creating Planes

What is a 'Plane'?

In the context of the 3D window (as opposed to aviation), a 'plane' is a 2-dimensional object that is very similar in most respects to a section. A plane is mainly used in the 3D window to visualize and analyze joint spacing and alignment data for the investigation of joint discontinuities. The 3D window allows you to visualize plane data with both Sirovision-originated and non-Sirovision data..

The Planes object is essentially a data table, very similar to a standard Section Definition table. To be recognised as a Planes type, the table must contain the following fields: XCENTRE, YCENTRE, ZCENTRE, PDIP, PAZI, HSIZE and VSIZE. In addition to the required fields, and other attribute fields may be present, and can be used information lay, colouring, filtering etc.

Planes Tables can be import and export in the same way as any other table. For convenience, an Import option is available from the Planes folder in the section of the Sheets bar, and also available from the Import menu options on the Data ribbon.

Your Application and Planes

Your application can use strings digitised onto wireframes to specify key planes, for example for joint space analysis. As part of this, a variety of tools and visualization methods are available to help with their generation and interpretation. All Plane generation and visualization functions require a Sirojoint license, with the exception of loading a document containing previously calculated Planes. Contact Datamine for more information on acquiring this powerful toolset.

The primary target of the plane-related functions relates to the visualisation of Sirovision wireframes, hence, most of these tools are only applicable to the 3D view. As such, most of the plane viewing functions are found in the Planes of the Sheets control bar. These commands relate to the management of existing plane objects. As planes originate from strings, the Strings folder features a Convert to Planes option for the generation of plane objects, which are automatically saved to the Planes folder of the same area.

Both open and closed strings can be used for the generation of planes. For each string, an average plane is calculated which best fits all the points in the string (open or closed). The plane is oriented around its line of true dip, and extents calculated to just fit the source string.

As with other 3D view objects, a planes object can be formatted by using the Properties option on its right click context menu, or by double-clicking on a Plane description within the view. Planes objects can be coloured using field/legend pairs or using a constant colour as with the 3D view items. Opacity may also be set for all planes within an object by using the Opacity slider in the Planes Properties dialog.

Associated Files and Info Mode Lists works the same was as for other objects, so plane attributes may be queried in the VR view, or external processes initiated.

Once planes have been generated, they are no longer associated (linked) with the strings used to define them. You can edit the string and plane objects independently, for example, deleting the strings object used to create planes will not delete any plane objects derived from them - planes are stored as separate data tables and can be saved to an external Datamine (.dm) file, or the project file in the same way as any other loaded object. Similarly, if you edit the vertices of a string used to create planes, the planes will not be updated automatically, they will need to be regenerated using the right-click Convert to Planes option in the Sheets control bar.

Creating a Plane from Strings (Sirojoint License Required)

Digitise a string (or strings) onto a loaded wireframe in the 3D window. For more information on this, see Digitize and Edit.
Once digitized, a new entry is displayed in the Strings folder, e.g.:
Right-click this string to select the Convert to Planes option.
A new object is added to the Planes folder with the description "Planes -" followed by the name of the string object used to create it, e.g:
Planes are then generated in alignment with the profile of the points on the underlying string data, and are displayed in the 3D window. As with any other 3D object, you can switch plane views on or off, or set their properties by right-clicking an object to select the Properties context menu item.

Plane Calculation Methods

Your application provides two different methods to calculate average planes from a series of points: Projected Areas, and Least Squared Fit. Both should produce suitable approximations for a plane passing through a string, although the Least Squared Fit may be more accurate in some circumstances. The calculation method can be chosen using the Project SettingsGeotechnial Settings page.

For more information on viewing a selected plane's data properties, click here.

	Related Topics
	Planes Properties Dialog The Planes Folder Project Settings: Geotec