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Creating Structral Discs and Planes

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bsomps edited this page Jan 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

Creating Structural Planes and Structural Discs

These operators generate structural planes or discs in an orientation based on spatial data points with associated strike and dip attributes, allowing visualization and interpretation of geological orientations.

Struct_planes.mp4

1. Structural Planes

Overview

The Structural Planes operator generates flat plane meshes that represent structural surfaces based on strike and dip values. These planes are clipped to fit within a user-defined bounding box object.

Input Data

  • Collection: Objects can be curve or mesh objects and must have orientation (strike, dip) properties. Dip values should be positive numbers
  • Bounding Box: A Blender object (e.g., cube) defines the model extents.
  • Orientation Mode: Choose between Dip Direction (Azimuth) and Right-Hand Rule (Strike).

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Select Input Collection

  • Go to the GeoModeller Panel → Geological Modelling → Structural Planes.
  • Use the Choose Collection dropdown to select your data collection.

2. Set Bounding Box

  • Create a cube object in the scene.
  • Position and scale it to enclose the area of interest.
  • Select this cube in the Bounding Box Object dropdown.

3. Choose Strike and Dip Properties

  • Select your Strike Property and Dip Property from the dropdown menus. If these data columns do not exist in your CSV file that was imported either through the point or drill hole importer, note that Azimuth and Dip are automatically brought in with value = 0. These can then be changed in the Blender UI.

4. Set Orientation Mode

  • Depending on how your data is formatted, choose either Dip Direction (Azimuth) or Right-Hand Rule.

5. Generate Structural Planes

  • Click Generate Structural Planes to create plane objects.

Visualization and Output

  • Output Collection: Structural planes are added to a collection named structural planes.
  • Plane Size: Determined based on the bounding box dimensions.
  • Clipping: Planes are clipped to fit within the bounding box using a boolean modifier.

2. Structural Discs

Overview

The Structural Discs operator generates circular disc meshes oriented based on strike and dip values. These discs are commonly used to represent smaller-scale structural data points.

Input Data

  • Collection: Objects must have (strike, dip) properties.
  • Disc Size: User-defined size for the discs.
  • Orientation Mode: Choose between Dip Direction and Right-Hand Rule.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Select Input Collection

  • Go to the GeoModeller Panel → Structural Modelling → Structural Discs.
  • Use the Choose Collection dropdown to select your data collection.

2. Choose Strike and Dip Properties

  • Select the Strike Property and Dip Property from the dropdown menus.

3. Set Disc Size

  • Enter a value for Size to define the radius of the discs.

4. Set Orientation Mode

  • Choose either Dip Direction or Right-Hand Rule.

5. Generate Structural Discs

  • Click Generate Structural Discs to create disc objects.

Visualization and Output

  • Output Collection: Structural discs are added to a collection named Structural Discs Collection.
  • Disc Size: Controlled by the Size parameter in the UI.
  • Orientation: Discs are rotated based on strike and dip parameters.

Comparison: Structural Planes vs. Structural Discs

Feature Structural Planes Structural Discs
Output Type Flat Plane Mesh Circular Disc Mesh
Primary Use Project-wide Representation Point Feature Representation
Bounding Box Required None
Orientation Mode Dip Direction / Right-Hand Rule Dip Direction / Right-Hand Rule
Scaling Automatic via Bounding Box User-Defined Size
Visualization Clipped and Aligned Planes Individual Discs

Notes and Limitations

  • Strike and Dip Validity: Ensure valid strike (0-360°) and dip (0-90°) values are provided.
  • Bounding Box for Planes: Planes require a bounding box for boolean clipping.
  • Disc Size Adjustment: Adjust disc size based on data visualization needs.

Tips for Efficient Modeling

  1. Bounding Box Adjustment: For structural planes, tightly fit the bounding box to the region of interest. You can then adjust the size of the bounding box and the boolean clips will update.
  2. Clipping Understand Blenders boolean operations and how Normals work if you would like to truncate certain planes along other planes.
  3. Object Validation: Check object properties in the Outliner to avoid missing or incorrect attributes.
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