distance to 2d area distance to 2d area receives any 3D field into its left input port and it receives triangulated polygons (from triangulate_polygon, or other sources) into its right input port. Its function is similar to buffer distance or distance to shape. It adds a data component to the input 3D field and using plume_shell, you can cut structures inside or outside of the input polygons. Only the x and y coordinates of the polygons are used because distance to 2d area cuts a projected slice that is z invariant. distance to 2d area recalculates when either input field is changed or the “Accept” button is pressed.
distance to surface distance to surface receives any 3D field into its left input port and it receives a surface (from create_tin, surface from horizons, slice, etc.) into its right input port. Its function is similar to distance to shape. It adds a data component to the input 3D field referencing the cutting surface. With this new data component you can use a subsettting module like plume to pass either side of the 3D field as defined by the cutting surface, thereby allowing cutting of structures along any surface. The surface can originate from a TIN surface, a slice plane or a geologic surface. The cutting surface can be multi-valued in Z, which means the surface can have instances where there are more one z value for a single x, y coordinate. This might occur with a wavy fault surface that is nearly vertical, or a fault surface with recumbent folds.
distance to shape distance to shape receives any 3D field into its input port and outputs the same field with an additional data component. Using plume_shell, you can cut structures with either a cylinder or rotated rectangle. The cutting action is z invariant (like a cookie cutter). Depending on the resolution of the input field, rectangles may not have sharp corners. With rectilinear fields (and non-rotated rectangles), the threshold module can replace plume_shell to produce sharp corners (by removing whole cells). plume can be used to output 3D fields for additional filtering or mapping.
buffer distance buffer distance receives any 3D field into its left input port and it receives polylines (from read_lines, import vector gis, import_cad, isolines, or other sources) into its right input port. Its function is similar to distance to shape. It adds a data component to the input 3D field and using plume_shell, you can cut structures along the path of the input polylines. Only the x and y coordinates of the polylines are used because buffer distance creates data to cut a projected region that is z invariant. buffer distance recalculates when either input field is changed or the “Execute” button is pressed. “Thick Fences” can be produced with the output of this module.
distance to tunnel center The distance to tunnel center module is similar to the distance to surface module in that it receives any 3D field into its left input port, BUT instead of a surface, it receives a line (along the trajectory of a tunnel, boring or mineshaft) into its right input port. The distance to tunnel center module then cuts a cylinder, of user defined radius, along the line trajectory. The algorithm is identical in concept to distance to surface in that it adds a data component to the input 3D field referencing the distance from the line (trajectory). With this new data component you can use a subsetting module like plume_volume to pass either portion of the 3D field (inside the cylinder or outside the cylinder), thereby allowing cutting tunnels along any trajectory. The trajectory line can originate from any one of a number of sources such read_lines, import cad or import vector gis.
overburden The overburden module computes the complete volume required to excavate a plume or ore body given the pit wall slope (measured from vertical) and the excavation digging accuracy (we refer to as buffer size). overburden receives any 3D field into its input port and outputs the same field with an additional data component. Its function is similar to distance to shape, but instead involves computing a new data component based on the nodal values in the 3D field and two user defined parameter values called Wall Slope and buffer size (addressing excavation accuracy). The data component is subset according to a concentration input (based on the subsetting level you want excavated). For example, once overburden has been run for GOLD at a 45 degree pit wall slope, the user would select 45-deg:overburden_GOLD and subset all data below 1 ppm to render a 45 degree slope pit which would excavate everything higher than 1 ppm concentration. A volumetrics calculation could be made on these criteria which would encompass the excavation and the ore body above 1 ppm.