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Sectional Volume Methods

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http://docs.autodesk.com/CIV3D/2014/ENU/filesCUG/GUID-FEAF4...

When you compute the materials for a sample line group, you can use three different volume calculation methods:
Average End Area, Prismoidal, or Composite.
If the cut/fill areas between two successive stations are of similar shape, then the Average End Area Method can
be used.
If the terrain has greater changes between stations, then the Prismoidal Method can be more accurate.
The Composite Method uses the actual surface data and does not use formulas to interpolate the volume
between sample lines. This method is particularly useful if the any of the surface triangle edges are smaller
than the sample line interval.
You can specify which volume method to use in the following dialog boxes:
Compute Materials. For more information, see Generating Material Lists.
Edit Material List. For more information, see Generating Material Lists.
Sample Line Group Properties, Material List tab. For more information, see Editing Sample Line Group
Properties.
Note You can include multiple corridor baselines in a volume calculation, but you should make sure that the shapes
of all sampled corridors are formed accurately. For more information, see Corridor Sections and Sampling Sectional
Volumes Across Multiple Baselines.

Average End Area Method


The Average End Area method calculates volumes by adding the area of a material type at one station to the area
of the material type at the next station and dividing the sum by two, then multiplying the result by the distance
between the sections (L).

Prismoidal Method
The Prismoidal method is similar to the Average End Area method but uses an additional cross section at the
middle of the two successive stations.

Composite Method
The Composite method is limited to material lists that have only two surfaces and cannot be used for material lists
that contain corridor shapes.
To calculate composite volumes, AutoCAD Civil 3D creates polygons between sample lines and then computes the
bounded volumes of those polygons. The polygons are created by joining the offsets of the sample lines between
two successive stations, as shown in the following illustration.

25/06/2015 16:04

Sectional Volume Methods

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http://docs.autodesk.com/CIV3D/2014/ENU/filesCUG/GUID-FEAF4...

If the offsets are uniform, then a line that matches the curvature of the centerline is used to join the sample
lines (1).
If the offsets are not uniform, then a straight line is used to join the sample lines (2).
The composite volume is then calculated for the area within the polygon (3) for each material in the material
list of the sample line group.
The volume is recorded at the second sample line of the polygon. The first sample line in the sample line group will
therefore have zero volume associated with it.

25/06/2015 16:04

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