Exploring AutoCAD Civil 3D 2019, 9th Edition

This textbook consists of 13 chapters covering Points Creations, Surface Creations, Surface Analysis, Corridor Modeling, Pipe Networks, Pressure Networks, and Parcels and so on. The chapters are organized in a pedagogical sequence to help users understand the concepts easily. Each chapter begins with a command section that provides a detailed explanation of the commands and tools in AutoCAD Civil 3D. The chapters in this textbook cover the basic as well as advanced concepts in AutoCAD Civil 3D such as COGO points, surfaces and surface analysis, alignments, profiles, sections, grading, assemblies, corridor modeling, earthwork calculations, and pipe and pressure networks. This edition covers the description of all enhancements and newly introduced tools.

Assemblies in Civil 3D

Assemblies in Civil 3D

After creating alignments and profiles, you need assemblies to create your Road model. A road model is formed by the combination of surface, alignments and assemblies.

In Civil 3D, an assembly is a object which is a collection of smaller units called subassemblies. These subassemblies are parametric in nature and are the building blocks of any road cross-section. Each assembly has a baseline with an attachment point indicated by a marker. The below Figure shows a road assembly cross-section.

Creating and Viewing a Corridor in AutoCAD Civil 3D

About Corridor

In  Civil 3D the Corridor is a three-dimensional model of a design encompassing the horizontal, vertical, and the cross-sectional geometries. In other words, a corridor is a combination of an alignment that provides horizontal geometry, a profile that provides vertical geometry, and an assembly that provides cross-sectional geometry. These Civil 3D objects are combined together to create a dynamic three-dimensional corridor model. 

 To explore various options to create a corridor for your project, we will learn in this to create and view a corridor in AutoCAD Civil 3D.

1.  Before starting the tutorial download the c08_civil_3d_2014_tut.zip file from www.cadcim.com. The path of the file is as follows: Textbooks > Civil/GIS > AutoCAD Civil3D > Exploring AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014.

2.Save and extract the downloaded file at the following location:

C:\civil3d_2014\c08

3. Open the File civil3d_2014_c08_tut01

The drawing file contains 1 surface, 1 alignment, 2 profiles, 1 profile view, 2 road assemblies.

Calculating Earthwork Quantities between two surfaces

Earthwork  estimation is an important part of any civil engineering project. Civil3D provides you with a streamlined method to calculate total cut, fill and net volumes of earthwork between the existing and the desired surface. The earthwork volumes between two surfaces can be calculated either by creating volume surface or by directly calculating the total cut and fill volumes between the two surfaces.

Civil 3D is the most powerful, simple and accurate tool to make earthwork calculations. For earthwork calculations you just need two surfaces in your drawing, one is the existing surface and other is the desired surface. Civil 3D analyzes both the surfaces and calculates the total volume of cut and fill by comparing the vertical distance between points in these surfaces. The distance between the elevations of two surfaces can then be used to create a third surface, known as volume surface. The most efficient method to calculate Earthwork quantities through Civil3D is  by using Composite Volumes.

To use Composite Volumes, type reportsurfacevolume in the command line and press ENTER . On doing so, Panorama window with the Composite Volumes tab will be displayed.

The following tutorial will explain the whole procedure to calculate the Earthwork Quantities using Composite Volume method and how to create a TIN volume Surface .

1.  Before starting the tutorial download the c04_civil_3d_2014_tut.zip file from www.cadcim.com. The path of the file is as follows: Textbooks > Civil/GIS > AutoCAD Civil 3D > Exploring AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014.

2.Save and extract the downloaded file at the following location:

C:\civil3d_2014\c04

3. Open the File civil3d_2014_c04_tut01

The drawing file consists of two TIN surfaces: the Existing Ground surface with borders and contours, and the Proposed Ground surface with triangles. You will notice a magenta colored polygon in the Proposed Ground surface.

Computing Composite Volumes

1. Enter REPORTSURFACEVOLUME at the command prompt; the Composite Volumes tab in the Panorama window is displayed.

2. Choose the Create new volume entry button from the Composite Volumes tab of the Panorama window; a new volume entry is added to the list box.

3. Double-click on the cell in the Base Surface column; a drop-down list is displayed. Select the Existing Ground option from this drop-down list

4. Similarly, select the Proposed Ground option from the drop-down list in the Comparison Surface column. On specifying the base and comparison surfaces, the net cut and fill volumes are displayed in the Cut and Fill columns, respectively.

The total volume of material to be removed from the existing ground is 20567.26 Cu.Yd. and the total material required to be filled is 13341.22 Cu Yd.

5. Accept the default cut and fill factor values. Move the slider at the bottom of the Panorama window to pan across the window to view the adjusted values for the cut, fill and net material required. The net volume of material is 7226-05 Cu Yd. This means that to create a balanced proposed ground, the 7226-05 Cu Yd of material needs to be removed from the existing ground. Note that the red graph in the Net Graph column indicates that the material needs to be removed from the base surface.

6. Close the Panorama window.

Creating the TIN Volume Surface

1. Choose the Create Surface tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Surfaces drop-down; the Create Surface dialog box is displayed.

2. In this dialog box, select the TIN volume surface option from the Type drop-down list.

3. Set the values of the TIN volume surface properties as follows:

 Name: Volume Surface             Base Surface: Existing Ground

Comparison Surface: Proposed Ground

4. Choose the OK button; the Create Surface dialog box is closed. The surface is created and displayed in different colored bands.

Creating Surface and Adding Point Data----Civil 3D 2014

Surface is considered as a building block and basic requirement of any Civil 3D project. There are four types of surfaces in Civil 3D: TIN Volume surface, TIN surface, Grid surface and Grid Volume surface. The TIN Volume surface and Grid Volume surface are used for calculating volumes.

In this Blog we will learn all about,

Creating a TIN( Triangulated Irregular Network) surface in Civil 3D.

Adding Point Data File to the TIN surface.

Use the Point file downloaded in the previous blog i.e civil3d_2014_c02_tut02an .txt.

You can download the file from http://www.cadcim.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ISBN=978-1-936646-32-6

After completing the following tutorial the surface image will look like the as shown in  Figure 1.

Figure 1  Surface displaying major and  minor contour lines

Creating the Surface

1.To create a surface, firstly Choose the Create Surface tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Surfaces drop-down; the Create Surface dialog box is displayed.

2. Click in the Value field of the Name property and enter a name of your choice.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. Now, ensure that the TIN surface option is selected in the Type drop-down list of the Create Surface dialog box and choose the OK button; the dialog box is closed, also the surface is created and is added to the Surfaces node in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

Note : You cannot see the surface at this stage because it is empty and you need to add data to make it visible.

Adding Point File to the Surface

1. Expand Surfaces > EG Surface > Definition in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

2. Select Point Files from the Definition node and right-click; a shortcut menu is displayed.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. From the Specify point file format list box, select the PENZD (space delimited) option. This file format is used for the point files that are saved with the extension .txt.

Note: If you select the wrong format for the point file from the Specify point file format list box, Civil 3D will display an error message indicating that the wrong file format has been selected.

5. Next, choose the button on the right of the Selected Files list box; the Select Source File dialog box is displayed.

6. Browse to the folder c03 and select civil3d_2014_c03_tut01- PENZD text file and choose the Open button; the file name and path is displayed in the Selected Files list box.

7. Choose the OK button from the Add Point File dialog box; the data is added to the surface.

Viewing the Surface

1. Enter ZE in the command line and then press ENTER; the surface will be displayed with a surface border, major, and minor contour as shown in figure 1. This is due to the default surface style settings of the template file.