Complex Slabs for Paving and Drainage

[Jack2022]

Hi All,

 

I am trying to accomplish the following: 

 

An area of paving with a few build-up components where the surface needs to follow multiple directional falls to achieve surface drainage - while the bottom component needs to be set to different levels as the paving is sitting on a concrete structure - sometimes sloped sometimes flat. 

 

Hardscapes easily provide complex sloping top component surfaces using stake modifiers but the components are all a fixed thickness and follow the surface levels (ie the tapered component option doesn't work unless you convert to slab/slab drainage style- see below). 

 

or

 

Slabs with Slab Drainage which allows you to set the bottom component level and grade the top component surface as required. Only issue with this method is the bottom component level can only be flat as far as I can tell. This is almost great but lack being able to follow a sloped bottom base. 

 

I would like the Drainage Slab option but be able to have the bottom component be able to slope itself. Or have a hardscape that can have a proper tapered component and you can adjust both the top surface levels and bottom surface levels.

 

Is it possible?  To simplify I'm after a tool that allows the top components to follow one set of slopes while the bottom follows another and the middle tapered component takes up the change in thickness.

 

Whatever is the solution it needs to be a tool so its easily adjustable going forward. Using fixed meshes or polygons or solids would be too onerous to try and adjust every time the engineer or architect change something. Which as any UK Landscape Architect will tell you, happens all the time.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Jack2022

[Tom W.]

If you use Slabs you have the option of using the 'Add 3D Object to Slab' command which will allow you to add a 3D solid to any of the Slab components. There's also 'Subtract 3D Object From Slab'. So you could model everything using Slab Drainage + forget about the bottom component until the end, then use these commands to achieve what you need on the underside.

 

This will not however result in something which is particularly 'easily adjustable going forward' as the 3D shapes you add/subtract become 'modifiers' which have to be edited separately to the Slab as a whole + they are often not particularly easy to edit after the fact.

 

[Jack2022]

Hi Tom,

 

Very close!

 

I'm getting this though - the bottom component which needs to be a fixed thickness doesn't add itself back to the modified component. 

 

This suggests the drainage board might need to modelled separately as its own slab or hardscape. Which is very onerous! Maybe theres a setting to allow it to align again?

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Jack2022

[Tom W.]

It's a bit hard to tell from the posts exactly what you're trying to do + what results you're getting but here is quick slab I made where I added a solid to the bottom component:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does the same technique not allow you to do what you need? You can add multiple solids to the same slab

[Jack2022]

Im trying to get the top mid grey surface to fall in one direction while the bottom black component falls another. The only component that can vary in depth is the light grey which in this case is sub base. I can add fills to any of the components but if its a mid layer component then the component below it doesn't adjust to the modification as per my previous picture.

 

The black layer needs to be a consistent 60mm thick to falls sit-in under the modified component. 

 

I think the implication is don't include the black element in the style and add its separately to the bottom of the style as its now slab or hardscape? but then this is very time consuming making a separate hardscape bottom element for every instance of this paving condition. 

 

 

 

 

[Jack2022]

This is possible but I had to draw a 3D polygon around the bottom of the sub base component and create a mesh 60mm thick on the bottom. then add material to it. Bit time consuming and the black mesh part isnt editable when the slab is edited. Half a solution. If you have any other ideas then do let me know.

 

[Tom W.]

Hmm no ideas... Except maybe create all the main slabs then use Extract Surface + Shell Solid to create the bottom black 'component' as a single entity..?

 

Is this all going on a site model too...?

 

I think it probably is just about possible to create it as a single slab using the add/subtract commands but would be really fiddly + a nightmare to go back into + edit...

 

Perhaps someone else has some ideas

[Jack2022]

Thanks Tom,

 

Ill investigate extract surface. I think although clunky, we're close enough to a solution. Easier to model this solution knowing in advance of setting all the slab falls so will be using it on our other project I think. The BIM manager on this one will have to settle for annotations tidying up the sections I think.

 

(We are being strongly encouraged to model 1:1 which in my view is pretty impossible with landscape).

 

I'll update with results once i've tried extract surface. 

 

Kind regards,

 

Jack