Sometimes you want to reuse a part of the geometry of an already existing PLAXIS 3D model in a different model. With PLAXIS 3D it is possible to export the geometry from Input using the command __saveobjects. The volumes and surfaces from these objects can be easily imported into a newly created PLAXIS 3D project using the Import soil... and Import structures... options in Input.

The available formats of the exported files are:

• BRep: Open CASCADE BRep file format
• STEP/STP: "Standard for the Exchange of Product model data" files
• DXF: Drawing Exchange Format

The command has the following structure:

 __saveobjects "brep" "C:\PLAXIS\3D\Objects"

Parameters:

__saveobjects	the command, note the double underscore
"brep"	file extension of the exported geometry file. In this case geometry.brep
"C:\PLAXIS\3D\Objects"	directory of the saved objects

The file geometry.<extenstion> exported in the specified directory includes objects present in the Blue coloured tabs in PLAXIS Input program. These supported geometric objects created in Blue tabs (Soil / Structures) are:

• Surfaces and Polygons
• Volumes
• Soil volumes from boreholes

Note in PLAXIS 3D AE, PLAXIS 3D 2013 and earlier, only these were available (but are no longer supported in the latest version): Plaxis 3D Object files (*.px3o), and Plaxis Mesh files (*.plxmesh). See the attached PDF document for details.

Note that the __saveobjects-command will also work for Stereolithography files (*.stl), this exports each volume or surface object as a separate .stl file. However, these files can no longer be imported back into the software since PLAXIS 3D 2016.

For more details on the __saveobjects-command or any other command, please refer to the Plaxis 3D Command Reference, available via the Help menu.