Create Stereonet

Source file: create-a-stereonet.htm

A stereonet plots slope and slope direction (dip and strike) of the poles of discontinuities onto a two-dimensional graph. It helps to identify discontinuity sets and analyse the stability of rock slopes.

Data preparation

Before creating a stereonet, follow these steps to prepare suitable data:

Note:  If this data has previously been prepared and exported to a .csv file, it does not need to be recreated. The stereonet can be created from file data.

1. Select a surface created with Spherical Surface, Scan Surface or Fusion Surface.

   Note:  Topographic surfaces are not suitable for geotechnical analysis as they are created in a top-down manner that does not provide sufficient detail on rock slopes.

2. On the Geotechnical tab, in the Colour group, click Colour Dip and strike to highlight the areas to be analysed.

3. Select point or facet selection type.

4. Select some points on a structure of interest.

5. On the Geotechnical tab, in the Dip and Strike group, click Extract discontinuities.

6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for all structures of interest. Discontinuity objects are saved in the geotechnical container for each query.

   
   

Stereonet creation

After the data have been prepared, follow this procedure to create a stereonet :

1. On the Geotechnical tab, in the Stereonet group, click Create Stereonet.

2. Add discontinuities to the Stereonet data field.

3. Select Poles, Planes or Intersections as the preferred representation of discontinuities on the stereonet. You can select these globally or individually to suit requirements.

4. Click OK or Apply to create a new stereonet in the geotechnical container.

   

Stereonet view options

Open the stereonet in a new view window, which will display the stereonet view toolbar.

Configure the stereonet with the available functions. See Stereonet toolbar for details.

Note:  You can also add contours to the stereonet data to help identify data of interest. See Stereonet Contours.