Filling volumes

Tool	Tool set
Volume Fill	Site Planning

The Volume Fill tool allows advanced users to fill volumes between overlapping objects, create a measurable volume for drainage ponds, or calculate and fill a volume when the surface level is already known. Since a material can be applied to the resulting volume fill object, this tool is helpful in a variety of situations.

When you place a hardscape over an underground structure, there may be resulting gaps that need to be accounted for, or you may have two or more 3D objects and simply want to fill the gap between them (such as to fill a gap under stairs or behind a retaining wall, etc.) with no site model involved. Two Surface mode is used for these situations. The resulting volume fill can be updated if changes are needed.

You may know the surface elevation of water that should fill the depressions on a site model; Horizontal Fill mode creates a horizontal surface fill. Perhaps you are dealing with an attenuation pond on a site model, and you need to know where the minimum and maximum water level will be, given a volume of runoff. Alternatively, perhaps you know the surface area of a pond but need to calculate its volume. Use Volume Fill mode for this. For freeboard calculations, to ensure safe drainage, use Volume Fill mode to take care of the required runoff volume, and then Horizontal Fill mode for the freeboard. You can also combine the Horizontal Fill mode to generate the surface fill with the Volume Fill mode to fill the resulting volume.

The Data Tag tool can report on the values of the volume fill.

The following modes are available.

Mode	Description
Complete Selection of Surface (Two Surface mode)	During a Two Surface mode operation, click this mode (or press Enter) to confirm each step of the operation
Two Surface	Specify one or more top and bottom objects, and then create a volume between them with vertical sides; only the overlapping regions are filled
Horizontal Fill (site model required)	Specify a volume and a surface elevation (of for example, a pond) to determine the boundary of the body by creating a flat, horizontal surface fill
Volume Fill (site model required)	Specify the volume, and the tool calculates the boundary required to accommodate it based on the site where it will be placed, creating the volume fill object
Bottom Surface Selection Indicator (Two Surface mode)	During a Two Surface mode operation, indicates that the bottom surfaces should be clicked
Top Surface Selection Indicator (Two Surface mode)	During a Two Surface mode operation, indicates that the top surfaces should be clicked
Volume (Volume Fill mode)	For Volume Fill mode, enter the desired volume
Preferences (Volume Fill mode)	Opens the Volume Fill Preferences dialog box to set the tolerance percentage for the volume calculation.  It's helpful to begin with a higher tolerance and adjust the tolerance based on the complexity of the site model.

Filling a volume between two surfaces

When filling a volume between two overlapping surfaces, the bottom objects, and then the top objects, are selected. The order cannot be reversed.

To fill a volume between two surfaces:

Click the tool and click Two Surface mode.

The Bottom Surface Selection Indicator mode toggles on.

Select the bottom object or objects.

The Visibility tool can be very helpful when making the selection in a complex drawing.

Click the Complete Selection of Surface mode to confirm the selection.

The Top Surface Selection Indicator mode toggles on.

Select the top object or objects.

Click the Complete Selection of Surface mode to confirm the selection.

The volume fill object fills the gap between the two surfaces. The sides of the volume fill are always vertical; therefore, cavernous volumes cannot be entirely filled.

To fill a geometric extrude such as a swimming pool, create a temporary top surface with an extrude, and then use Two Surface mode to fill the volume.

Filling the surface of a volume

To obtain the volume and perimeter of an object, based on a selected surface elevation (site model required):

Click the tool and click Horizontal Fill mode.

Select the elevation of the water level (or other type of fill) by clicking on the site model.

Click again to specify the direction to create the object.

A volume fill object is created, filling the specified surface at the selected elevation. An arrow indicates the direction, and the elevation displays as an annotation next to the arrow.

If the volume created encounters the edge of the site model, or the limit of a site model crop, a vertical edge is created.

Adding a volume to a specific area

To fill a specified volume over a site model (required):

Click the tool and click Volume Fill mode.

On the Tool bar, enter the specific Volume to be created.

If needed, click Preferences to set a tolerance percentage for the calculation. Lower tolerances create a more exact volume, but may take longer.

Click on the site model at a low point where the volume should be created.

If the volume created exceeds the area specified, it will overflow to another area, provided there is sufficient volume to fill the depressions to the same level. If there's insufficient overflow area for the volume, no volume fill object is created. If the volume created encounters the edge of the site model, or the limit of a site model crop, a vertical edge is created.

Volume fill parameters

The properties of a created volume fill object can be edited from the Object Info palette.

Click to show/hide the parameters.Click to show/hide the parameters.

Creating the site model