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CADTools Tutorials

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mlaporte:
Hi everyone

I have just downloaded CADTools and are beginning to try a few commands.
I was using Quicksurf before and there are some similarities, however, I always like to go through tutorials for new softwares before actually using them.
I have been googling for some CADTools tutorials with little to no success. Can anyone on this forum quide me to some "getting started" or at least describe the steps to say, designing a road with side drain.

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

cr_raul:
hi there!

creating a video tutorial for road design in cadtools has been on my agenda for a very long time ... and unfortunately it's going to be stuck there for a long time. but I can give you a short list of things to be done (I'll assume that you can find the functions and that you have knowledge about road working with 3d design software):

1. create "existing" surface  from your data (check for the type of data you can use)  -> create surface. tip: verify the triangulation result and just then export to .tsd
2. create your alignment with lines and fillets;
3. join the alignments segments into a polyline; tip: check for the direction of the polyline and if it's not the right way use reverse polyline from the lines menu;
4. convert polyline to 3dpolyline:
5. drape polyline : open edit surface , load saved triangulation (tsd file) and use drape polyline function;
6. profile 3d polyline : function found in lines menu; tip: plot the profile with 10 vertical exaggeration for guidance and 1 for work;
7. design your vertical alignment on the profile ( the one with no vertical exaggeration)
8. repeat steps 3. and 4.
9. choose "create 3d alignment" form lines menu and you create the 3d axle of the road ;
10. use offset 3dpolyline from lines menu to create the carriageway;
11. use create longitudinal features to create the intersection with the terrain; ditches can be created automatically for cut zones and with offset 3d polyline for fill sections
12. create a surface from the design lines : axle, carriageway and embankment line and be sure to check use polylines as break lines
13. create a contour polyline from the embankment line and use the function delete triangles with centroid outside polygon from the edit surface menu
14. save the new surface as "design"
15. use surface profile and surface cross-sections by loading existing and design surfaces and choosing the alignment;

these are the basic steps of using cadtools. please refer to the manual for further description of the functions and their options. the cadtools manual is very specific in most cases.

good luck using cadtools!

mlaporte:
Cr_Raul

That was very good. Thank you for your help. From your explanation, I managed to create the main surface and a surface that represent the road running through. My question remains, how do you merge the 2 surfaces together to get the main surface showing the road cutting through.

cr_raul:
that's easy. you must create a new terrain surface where you use the same embankment border along with your initial terrain data and the function delete triangle with centroid inside the polygon to create a hole in the new terrain surface. save the new surface separately, hide the existing surface and display the design surface and the terrain surface around it. I hope you understood my explanation

mlaporte:
Cr_Raul

Yes, I do understand your explanation, but the generated fill/cut edges are edges of individual triangles and to have a closed polygon means you have to draw around the edges. which can be time consuming. I was thinking of some kind of command like "merge surface" or "rebuild surface".
The reason I am saying this is because I am still thinking in the line of "Quicksurf" which would mergethe 2 surfaces automatically.

Thanks for your comments.

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