Overview of Seeders
As a part of rockfall analysis, the starting conditions of the falling bodies must be specified. Through seeder definition, users may specify the rocks' origin locations and the rocks' initial conditions (i.e., velocity, mass, density, and shape). Initial conditions may be specified as a value or as a statistical distribution. The number of seeders that may be added in RocFall3 is unlimited.
The four types of seeders available in RocFall3 are Point Seeders, Line Seeders, Plane Seeders, and Area Seeders. The initial velocities and the physical properties of the rock (Mass, Density, Shape) are specified in the Seeder Properties dialog.
Point Seeders
Point seeders are used to model rocks originating from a single starting location. To add a point seeder please see the Add Point Seeder page.
Line Seeders
Line seeders are used to model rocks originating from a line or a polyline. The rock locations are generated with a Uniform distribution along the length of the line seeder (i.e., a rock will start falling from any point along the length of the seeder with equal probability). Please refer to the Add Line Seeder page for more details on how to use this tool.
Plane Seeders
Plane Seeders are used to model rocks originating from a defined plane The rock locations are generated with a Uniform distribution over the entire area of the plane (i.e., a rock will start falling from any point on the plane with equal probability). For more details, see the Add Plane Seeder page.
Area Seeders
Area Seeders are used to model rocks originating from a defined area. The area can be irregular in shape. The rock locations are generated with a Uniform distribution over the entire area (i.e., a rock will start falling from any point on the area seeder with equal probability). For more details, see the Add Area Seeder from Selection page.