The Polyline to Alignment With Curves tool can be used to generate an alignment with curves based on an input polyline. The tool uses a heuristic search algorithm to search for an alignment with as few intersection points (IPs) as possible, while adhering to minimum radius and maximum offset constraints.
Note: existing vertical curves will be removed.
Left: a polyline before simplification. Right: an alignment after simplification by Polyline to Alignment with Curves.
Parameters
Minimum radius
Smallest radius allowed per IP.
Maximum offset distance
Largest perpendicular offset from the original polyline allowed. While the search will attempt to adhere to this constraint as much as possible, it will still return a solution if this cannot be satisfied.
Minimum and maximum number of IPs
Using these parameters, you can specify the desired number of IPs to search for. The search will then attempt to generate an alignment with a number of IPs between these values.
If set to "automatic", the algorithm will choose the minimum of maximum value heuristically.
Minimizing curves in an existing alignment
This tool can also be used to reduce the number of curves in an existing alignment that already has curves. If an alignment with curves is input, a polyline that is a combination of the current plan and report points will be created. Therefore, for this use-case it is recommended to specify automatic report points at regular intervals, to improve precision.
