Measure a depth profile

Every figure in a depth profile is measured square to the straight line between your two points, so it reads the same on a wall as on a deck. Nothing is fitted and no ground is assumed. The chart is the measurement: two faces with the same worst figure can have very different shapes.

To measure a depth profile

1. On the toolbar, click Advanced ▸ Depth profile.

2. Click a point on sound surface on one side of the feature.

3. Click a point on sound surface on the other side.

4. In the Measurement panel, click Measure depth profile.

   The status line says that the surface is being profiled. The chart and the figures then appear in the panel.

5. Move the pointer along the chart.

   A dot on the model shows where each point of the chart lies.

Results

Figure	Meaning
Straight distance	Point to point, straight through the air
Surface distance	The same run measured over the concrete, into every hollow and over every bump. Always the longer of the two
Max proud	The furthest the concrete stands out in front of the straight line
Max recessed	The furthest it sits back behind the line. Never netted against Max proud
RMS departure	How far the concrete sits from the line typically, over the whole run

A large maximum with a small typical departure is one feature on an otherwise sound face — a step, a lip, a single spall. Both large means the face is poor all the way along.

When the feature is larger than the traces can see, Max proud and Max recessed read “at least …”: the figure is a lower bound. Draw a longer line across the same feature to see more of it. Stretches the traces could not reach are drawn dashed on the chart and are in none of the figures.

To examine the profile

• Double-click the chart to open it in a window that you can move and resize. Esc closes the window.
• Clear Draw the measured surface on the twin to hide the traced line from the model.
• Click Cut the twin along this section to cut the model along the profile’s line, so that you can see the same shape on the concrete. See Cut the model with a section plane.
• Click What do these figures mean? for diagrams of each figure.
• Click Explain in the panel header to read the resolution of the profile — the smallest detail it can tell apart along this line — and any warning that applies.

Note

A profile has no quality word. Its resolution stands in its place: a departure close to the resolution is a facet of the capture, not a feature of the concrete.