Ramesh Sridharan
February 9, 2022
3 min read
Modeling subsurface information is critical when working on new design projects or the rehabilitation of existing capital assets. It involves the analysis of soils, rocks, and other earth materials, and assessing their impact on the construction and performance on every type of project including roads, tunnels, bridges, and buildings. Without proper calculations and analysis of geotechnical modeling, significant damage can occur due to slope stability shifts, earthquakes, or other effects.
Geotechnical Modeler, a new extension to Civil 3D, released on February 9, provides engineers and designers a tool to more effectively visualize and analyze geotechnical data, then easily utilize that data directly in their Civil 3D design model.
“The vision of what’s possible with 3D models can now be better realized by civil engineers and the non-technical members of any team,” says Autodesk Product Manager Ramesh Sridharan.
Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D provides tools to
Feedback from Civil 3D users informed the development of the extension, Sridharan reveals. For geotechnical modeling, it was clear that users needed a more effective way to understand how their data was managed and imported to Civil 3D.
Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D simplifies the workflow by separating how users manage their geotechnical data from the process of connecting that data to Civil 3D to create geotechnical models. And it gives users options by providing two methods for importing subsurface data to Civil 3D.
“We made the import process very simple,” explains Sridharan. “It uses the industry common AGS and CSV formats. You can import with one click and start to create and build surfaces from multiple data points. And you only need to import once to be able to use [the data] on other designs too.”
Support for AGS enables users of dedicated geotechnical and subsurface software that utilize this format to easily connect their geotechnical data into their Civil 3D projects. While support for CSV permits users to develop and enter data in a simple text-based file format without the need for specialized software.
With the geotechnical data imported to Civil 3D, users can quickly create stratum surfaces that represent each material layer. Users can examine borehole data using two-dimensional sticklogs that graphically represent the different materials and depths, helping to better understand the borehole data. Three-dimensional boreholes can also be generated, facilitating even more effective visualization of subsurface conditions.
Geotechnical Modeler advances visual assessments further by enabling users to create subsurface profile views. This profile can be utilized in design plan sheets, but it can also be viewed in 3D. Bringing this rich information together in a three-dimensional view helps the engineer to make better design decisions.
“Users can also now see their profile view with many options possible for surveys, cross sections of a 3D or 2D profile and the same for their borehole data,” adds Sridharan.
The workflows should be familiar to users of Civil 3D software, as the tool utilizes a variety of Civil 3D objects and styles. Its flexibility empowers users to create and manage standard Civil 3D object types and styles including: COGO points, TINNs, Alignments, Profiles, and Profile Views.
“Using the Geotechnical Modeler extension is now the fastest way to create a site layout with multiple subsurfaces,” confirms Sridharan. “With the latest version of Civil 3D for 2022, anything you create with the Geotechnical Modeler is shareable across Autodesk products via the cloud,” says Sridharan. “And by improving the access to designs via Navisworks and InfraWorks, the extension enhances stakeholder engagement with the visualization aspect resulting in better managed projects.”
The Geotechnical Modeler offers an alternative to siloed and time-consuming processes for managing geotechnical data. Sign up for a new webinar on February 15 and discover a new and native way of working that re-thinks the data import process for Civil 3D.
What you will learn:
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The Geotechnical Modeler for Civil 3D extension is released on February 9. Sign up for a webinar on February 15 to learn more about how the extension can help you manage your design data workflows more efficiently.
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