[NQChien]

Hi everybody,



I want to create a STL file from a two-column text file representing the bottom transect, or profile, of a beach (aka. X-Z coordinates). For example, the following data represent an approximately 1:10 beach slope:


X (m) Z (m)

0 0
5 -0.5

10 -1.1
15 -1.5

25 -2.6
50 -4.8



What is a simple way to make an STL file from this? The output STL file would be very useful for running scenarios such as wave overtopping.



Thanks!

[ati_d94]

I would suggest using the feature included in FLOW-3D, called Topo2STL, which may be found under the Utilities tab at the top of the screen. Select your file which has the coordinates in columns as the input.

Please note however that Topo2STL will not produce an output if your data is irregularly spaced/ on an irregular grid. It seems that your data is regularly spaced, so I would recommend trying this option. If you are unable to generate the STL with your 2D data, extend the 2D profile horizontally to create a 3D grid which will fix the issue

Cheers

[NQChien]

Originally Posted by ati_d94

I would suggest using the feature included in FLOW-3D, called Topo2STL, which may be found under the Utilities tab at the top of the screen. Select your file which has the coordinates in columns as the input.

Please note however that Topo2STL will not produce an output if your data is irregularly spaced/ on an irregular grid. It seems that your data is regularly spaced, so I would recommend trying this option. If you are unable to generate the STL with your 2D data, extend the 2D profile horizontally to create a 3D grid which will fix the issue

Cheers

Thanks, I found the 'Topo2STL tool' from the Utilities menu. With the default spatial resolution, I chose the STL output file location, and after Conversion complete - I found no STL file in the output folder! I have tried checking write permission of the output folder, and chose different folders as well.


Maybe the data is too simple? (data points too sparse)

This is the data file (topo/xyz):
-40 -5 18
-40 5 18
-34 -5 18
-34 5 18
-34 -5 5
-34 5 5
-13 -5 5
-13 5 5
-6 -5 10
-6 5 10
0 -5 10
0 5 10
50 -5 0
50 5 0
100 -5 0
100 5 0

[ati_d94]

The software won't be able to produce an output if the data is not in a structured grid format, try restructuring your data into a more grid-like format at the same intervals when using Topo2STL eg.

x;y;z

-40 -5 18
-35 -5 18
-30 -5 18
.
.
95 -5 0
100 -5 0
-40 5 18
-35 5 18
.
.
95 5 0
100 5 0

Something similar to this. Alternatively, you can draw your beach profile using software such as AutoCAD and export it as an STL

[NQChien]

Originally Posted by ati_d94

The software won't be able to produce an output if the data is not in a structured grid format, try restructuring your data into a more grid-like format at the same intervals when using Topo2STL eg.

x;y;z

-40 -5 18
-35 -5 18
-30 -5 18
.
.
95 -5 0
100 -5 0
-40 5 18
-35 5 18
.
.
95 5 0
100 5 0

Something similar to this. Alternatively, you can draw your beach profile using software such as AutoCAD and export it as an STL

Thank you, but still I cannot get Topo2STL to work. The utility Topo2STL did not issue an error, yet no output *.STL file was produced.

I also looked at the MeshLab tutorial http://fabacademy.org/archives/2014/...loudToSTL.html but Step 2 did not work as I expected. To be specific, there was "Smoothed Poisson" but not "Poisson" on my MeshLab. And the STL file produced was curved in 3-D sense (like a basin, not a profile or transect).

I am trying TinkerCAD building the profile piece-wisely.