Explicitly Modelling a Bifurcating Solid

Modelling a bifurcating solid is a common challenge faced by geologists. Thankfully, Micromine Origin makes this process easy with the explicit modelling tool available. This article outlines the 2 recommended methods for explicitly modelling a bifurcating solid: 1) manual bifurcation, and 2) the Auto Build tool. These tools often produce differing results so it is left up to the user to decide which method works best for their needs.

Manual Bifurcation

Modelling a basic, tabular solid is simply a matter of using the Build Wireframe tool (Wireframe | Build Wireframe | New) to connect all of your section interpretation strings. If the solid bifurcates, it's the same principle, however, you use the partial selection functionality instead of selecting the entire string (clicking and dragging along a string will select segments of that string). Figure 1 illustrates how this works:

1. Press the Build New Wireframe function.
2. Select half of the original string and join it to one of the bifurcations.
3. Click in blank space to de-select the highlighted string.
4. Then, select the other half of the original string and join it to the other bifurcation.
5. If you are getting unexpected results, you will need to condition/clean your data (see tips below)

Note: use Undo (ctrl + Z) to undo any triangulations.

Figure 1: Partially selecting a string to join it to a bifurcation string.

Tips

• Use the visiblity tools (Vizex | Visibility) to hide any obstructing strings.
• Insert points (shortcut I on the keyboard) on the single string where you want the bifurcation to occur.
• Create tie lines (Wireframe | Build Wireframe | New Tie Line) if necessary.

Auto Build tool

The Auto Build tool (Wireframe | Build Wireframe | Auto Build) is primarily used to generate bifurcations when explicit modelling. This tool uses a relatively complex algorithm to fit the wireframe to the input data. Figure 2 illustrates how to use this tool:

1. In Vizex, select the strings where the bifurcation occurs.
2. In the ribbon, click on Auto Build
3. If the Auto Build doesn't run or you get unexpected results, you will need to condition/clean your data (see tips below)

Note: use Undo (ctrl + Z) to undo any triangulations.

Figure 2: Selecting section strings and running the Auto Build tool.

Tips

• Create tie lines (Wireframe | Build Wireframe | New Tie Line) to guide the bifurcation.
• Insert points on the strings (Design | Edit Mode | Insert Mode | Insert Points) to give the algorithm more flexibility.

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