After analyzing the constraints using Collision analysis, you can perform Ground grading to modify the terrain and meet the set criteria.

Ensure your constraints for Ground clearance and/or Pile reveal range are set correctly, and then click on the Grade button. Select between working with some specific frames or with the entire PV area, and then confirm your selection with Enter. The example below shows how to work with the entire PV area. Frames that are already adhering to the allowed ranges will not be affected.

PVcase makes a copy of the existing topography in our PV area and any changes will be done using the copy rather than the original. The copy can be found in the PVcase Proposed Grade layer. However, only a small portion of the points is displayed.

This ensures no unwanted changes are made to the original topography, and also allows you to swap between the original and proposed grade to compare the terrain.

Ground grading is directly controlled by the pile reveal length and the clearing distance. PVcase will determine how much groundwork would be required, to meet the set criteria.

Before hitting the Grade button, you can also define if and in which case the grading is performed not only under, but also between the frames.

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​If the box is unchecked, or the set value is lower than the pitch, no grading between the frames will be performed (no coloring between the frames).

Once the grading is complete, all the frames that were previously out of specification will no longer have a color indication. The terrain will have been corrected so that the frames have acceptable clearances and/or pole lengths, and are therefore no longer marked by the Collision analysis.

You can see the Grading summary, where the cut, fill and net volumes are specified. You may also reset any proposed grading actions.

Optimizing the grading volume

After completing and reviewing the initial grading, you may want to reduce the amount of ground moving that is necessary to achieve the desired results.

Before starting, we strongly recommend that you take screenshots of the resulting cut and fill volumes.

Then, reset all the grading actions from your initial grading with the Reset grading button (see above).

In the previous grading calculation, the cut was half the fill volume (263 versus 105 m³) resulting in a net volume of 157 m³ fill. If your goal is to have similar cut and fill volumes (hence minimizing our net volume), you need to reduce our cut. To do that, place the trackers higher before you start grading.

The original layout was generated with a reference pile reveal of 1.4 m.

You can now either generate a new layout with a higher value or keep the current layout and just lift the trackers by increasing the pile reveal (to 1.45 in the example) and using Adapt to positions.
Once done, click on Grade again (without changing the parameters for ground clearance and piling range).

The grading volume has changed: the cut volume is now lower than the fill volume, and the net volume has decreased.

You can repeat this process as many times as necessary to get the most effective solution.

In a further iteration step you may try with a reference pile reveal of 1.44 m with the goal to get cut and fill volume even closer.

Follow the same steps as before:

1. Screenshot of grading volumes
2. Reset grading volumes
3. Change reference pile reveal in Frame and Park settings
4. Adapt to Positions
5. Grade

The net volume has decreased to 9 m³:

Further iterations will show that with a pile reveal of 1.437 m, we could reduce our net volume to 2.4 m³.

Instead of changing reference height of the whole area, we can also just change it for affected frames (selecting individual frames instead of the area when using Adapt to positions or using the command Adapt by piling range.

Learn more in Civil Analysis — Collision analysis (Single-axis trackers) 

Grading heatmap
In the Grading heatmap tab you can:

• Toggle between the existing and proposed terrain
• Export the existing or proposed terrain in CSV or LandXML format
• Compare the existing and proposed terrain with a heatmap or spot levels

The option to toggle between the Existing and the Proposed terrain allows you to choose the surface you want to work with.
It also helps to visualize the changes in pile and clearance height before and after grading.

Surface comparison

After performing Ground grading, you can easily compare the existing and proposed grade surfaces using the heatmap in Surface comparison. There are two options to illustrate the grading intensity on the project area:

• The Heatmap colors affected segments of the terrain with a corresponding color
• Spot levels place text denoting the elevation difference in a specific spot on the drawing

Heatmap

Start by defining the values in the Surface comparison table.

• Starting value is the smallest value that will be represented in the heatmap

• Table range count defines the granularity of the heatmap (number of steps in either direction);

• Step size is the increment in which the values progress.

Begin by defining your Starting value. In this example, it’s left at 0.05 m. It is generally best practice to have a Table range value of at least 5 — this allows for a better sense of granularity on the heatmap. Set the Step size to 0.1 m. Once we have the variables defined, click on Fill table and the table (bottom-left corner of the window) will be populated.

The red color indicates the areas that are subject to material removal, while purple indicates areas where material needs to be added. You can customize the colors by clicking on them and choosing an option that suits your needs.
To see the heatmap switch the toggle On and Off — it takes a few seconds to appear.

Now you can see the surface heatmap, which illustrates which areas are subject to which type of grading procedure and at what intensity.

Spot levels

With Spot levels, you can define the density of the text element placement. This does not impact the accuracy of the grading procedure, but, rather, how many points are placed on the drawing to illustrate the calculations. The resulting elevations are colored based on the Surface comparison table. Use the toggle to switch the Spot levels on, as shown below:

Export to CAD

Finally, you can also add a legend with the surface comparison table colors and range values into the drawing:

1. Click on Export to CAD.
2. Left-click on the drawing where you want to place the table.

This is an accessible way to showcase the range of values and colors used for presentation purposes.

 

Front view 

Another way to illustrate how the changes affected the piling and terrain would be to perform a front-section view.

 

To see how the proposed and original topography compares, you may zoom into a front-view cut and see a black line indicating original topography and yellow indicating proposed terrain.