Performing a Slope Analysis

You can perform a slope analysis by selecting a large range terrain mesh in draft analysis command and selecting the Quick Analysis Mode. You can then refine your analysis by creating a new color scale and switching to the Full Analysis Mode.

Before you begin:
  • Open a terrain to analyze.
  • To enable the visualization of the draft analysis results, turn on the Shading with Material option available in the View section of the action bar.
  1. From the Tools section of the action bar, click Draft Analysis .
  2. To prepare your analysis, adjust the analysis mode, specify the display, the invalid area highlight, and direction options.
    OptionDescription
    Quick Analysis Mode

    Displays a simplified analysis based on only three values and four colors, displayed by default.

    Full Analysis Mode

    Displays a complete analysis based on the values and color scale you define. This allows you to study the distance performed on the selected element.

    Show/Hide color scale

    Turns the color scale on or off. By default, the color scale shows two angle values and three colors. For more information, see About the Draft Analysis Color Scale.

    On the Fly

    Displays the draft analysis results at the current position of the cursor.



    The on the fly analysis provides:

    • The direction of the draft marked D and is identified by a red arrow. It is similar to the robot's Z axis
    • The normal to the surface is marked N and identified by a green axis
    • The tangent to the surface is marked T and identified by a blue arrow
    • The plane tangent to the surface are identified by circles
    • The angle between the draft direction and the tangent to the surface is expressed by a value (reverse highlighted)

    No Highlight Representations

    Turns off highlighting for the selected terrain mesh.

    Light effect

    Applies a light effect on the selected terrain mesh.

    Highlight Invalid area

    Provides color buttons to highlight specific areas of the terrain according to a color scale associated with angle values. You can click one or several buttons at a time.

    By default, the three available color buttons are reflected in the Quick Analysis Mode color scale along with two values ranging from -90 deg to 2 deg:

    • Blue: -90 deg to 0 deg
    • Red: 0 deg to 2 deg
    • Green: 2 deg to 90 deg

    Both colors and values can be modified from the color scale window. To suit your analysis type, you can save a new color scale using the Color Scale Variant. This variant is stored in a CATPrefences file and can be reused for a further draft analysis.

    Lock

    Locks the draft direction even when the robot is used.

    Robot

    Drops the robot onto the model. It allows you to define a new draft direction by moving it.

    Reverse

    Reverses the draft direction for each element involved in the current analysis.

    Note: In most cases, use this option before launching the analysis.

    The information area displays the draft direction coordinates.

  3. Select the terrain mesh in the work area.
  4. Adjust the display options:
    1. Click Reverse to locally reverse the draft direction.
    2. Click No Highlight Representations .
  5. Change the upper angle value to 60 deg (marked in green).
    The draft analysis highlights zones of the terrain mesh with respect to the defined range of angle values from 0 over 60 deg in:
    • Red: draft angle ranging from 0 deg to 60 deg.
    • Green: draft angle ranging from 60 deg to over 60 deg.


  6. Click On the Fly .


  7. Save the settings in a color scale variant and give it a name (60deg).
  8. Click Full Analysis Mode .
  9. Adjust the angle value ranges and the associated colors by editing the color scale.
    The color scale reflects the new values from 0 to above 80 deg.

  10. Save the new color scale and give it a name (for example full slope analysis).
    The color scale variant is stored as a setting in the CATPrefences file. You will retrieve it next time you run a terrain slope analysis.
  11. Click a color button or several color buttons to visualize the zones of interest.

    The zones are colored with respect to the color scale (user-defined color associated with a range of angle values).