three-tunnel

three-tunnel is a tunnel & grouting library for three.js powering the Tunnel Sketcher demo application. It helps visualize underground tunnel geometry, grouting patterns, and geological fracture planes with a focus on clarity and interactivity. Use the components directly to build your own tunnel design or geological visualization tools.

Features

• Parametric tunnel geometry (Tunnel3D) with adjustable length, width, height and roof curvature.
• Interactive grouting pattern management (Grout3D instances via TunnelControls).
• Grouped or per-grout parameter editing (angle, length, overlap, color, visibility).
• Geological fracture planes (FracturePlane3D) with strike, dip, positional offsets, opacity and color.
• Real-time tunnel ↔ fracture plane edge intersection line segments using three-mesh-bvh acceleration.
• Screenshot export (hi‑res) and full JSON scene save/load (tunnel, grouts, planes, controls, background).
• Orthographic camera + predefined viewpoint helpers (profile left/right, cross section, zoom to fit).
• Configurable clipping planes to hide left/right halves for profile views.
• Auto-generated TypeDoc API docs.

Installation

npm install three-tunnel
# or
yarn add three-tunnel

Peer dependency: three (install a compatible version if not already present).

Quick Start

import * as THREE from 'three';
import { Tunnel3D, TunnelControls } from 'three-tunnel';

const scene = new THREE.Scene();

// 1. Create a tunnel
const tunnel = new Tunnel3D();
scene.add(tunnel);

// 2. Attach interactive controls (optionally pass a group/root object)
const controls = new TunnelControls(scene);
controls.attach(tunnel);

// 3. Add two initial grouts and update derived geometry
const grout1 = controls.addGrout();
const grout2 = controls.addGrout();
controls.update();

// 4. Change parameters (angles given in radians)
controls.setGroutParams(0, { angle: 15 * THREE.MathUtils.DEG2RAD, holeLength: 25 });
controls.setTunnelParams({ tunnelLength: 60, tunnelWidth: 12 });
controls.update();

Detailed Usage

Tunnel3D

Represents an extruded tunnel profile. Adjustable fields include: tunnelLength, tunnelWidth, tunnelHeight, tunnelRoofHeight, tunnelColorHEX. Use TunnelControls.setTunnelParams() to modify and propagate changes.

Grout3D

Represents a screen (array) of grout holes. Key parameters: angle (radians from horizontal), holeLength, overlap, screenLength, groutColorHEX, isVisible. Add via TunnelControls.addGrout() then mutate with setGroutParams(index, params).

FracturePlane3D

Visual geological plane with adjustable strike, dip, xPosition, yPosition, zPosition, planeColorHEX, opacity, visible. Use plane.update() after modifying direct properties (or use provided param helpers if exposed).

TunnelControls

Central coordinator for updating tunnel and grout geometry. Typical flow:

1. Instantiate: const controls = new TunnelControls(groupOrScene);
2. Attach tunnel: controls.attach(tunnel);
3. Add grouts: controls.addGrout();
4. Modify params: controls.setTunnelParams({...}) / controls.setGroutParams(i, {...});
5. Call controls.update(); to rebuild geometry.

Saving / Loading State

If you mirror the example viewer pattern, you can serialize a full session via toJSON() and restore with fromJSON(json). See example/Viewer.ts for the schema referenced by the JSONParams type.

Intersections (Tunnel ↔ Fracture Planes)

Real-time edge intersection line segments are generated between the tunnel surface and each visible fracture plane using three-mesh-bvh's bvhcast triangle-pair traversal.

Implementation highlights:

• BVH trees lazily computed for both tunnel and plane geometries (strategy: SAH).
• Each plane maintains a dedicated THREE.LineSegments object storing intersection edges for that frame.
• When a plane is hidden or produces zero intersections, its line object is hidden.
• Color and opacity of intersection lines sync to the owning plane every frame.

Code location: _updatePlaneTunnelIntersections() inside example/Viewer.ts.

Example Application

You can explore a full UI in the bundled demo.

Run locally:

git clone https://github.com/andrewisen-tikab/three-tunnel.git
cd three-tunnel
yarn install        # or npm install
yarn dev            # launches Vite dev server for the example

Open the printed local URL (usually http://localhost:5173/) to interact.

Build the example static site:

yarn build:example

Output goes to dist/examples (served on GitHub Pages at /example/).

Production library build:

yarn build

Outputs compiled module bundle + types to dist/.

Live demo: https://andrewisen-tikab.github.io/three-tunnel/example/

API Docs

Auto-generated TypeDoc: https://andrewisen-tikab.github.io/three-tunnel/docs/

Regenerate locally:

yarn docs

Outputs HTML docs to the configured docs directory (see typedoc.json).

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Suggested workflow:

1. Fork & clone the repo.
2. Create a feature branch from dev (or next if testing upcoming changes):

   git checkout dev
   git checkout -b feat/your-feature-name

3. Install dependencies (yarn install).
4. Run the example (yarn dev) and implement changes in src/.
5. Keep the README and docs in sync; update JSDoc comments for new public APIs.
6. Lint & build before opening a PR:

   yarn lint
   yarn build
   yarn docs

7. Open a Pull Request against dev describing the change, screenshots/GIFs encouraged.

Testing: (Lightweight) The project currently relies on manual visual verification. If you add logic-heavy features, consider adding unit tests (e.g. with Vitest) and update this section.

Versioning: The version script (yarn version) runs setVersion.cjs to keep internal VERSION references aligned.

Roadmap / Ideas

• Extended fracture plane editing gizmos.
• More efficient intersection diffing (only update when transforms change).
• Grout pattern templates & CSV/JSON import.
• Optional perspective camera mode.
• Unit tests & CI.
• Performance benchmarking page.

Feel free to open an issue to discuss any of these or propose new ones.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Possible Fix
Peer dependency warning for three	Install a compatible version: yarn add three@^0.157.0
Intersections not appearing	Ensure planes are visible and tunnel length/width > 0; check console for BVH errors.
Grout updates not reflected	Make sure to call tunnelControls.update() after changing parameters.
Clipping hides wrong side	Confirm you are on the latest branch; logic in _updateTunnelClipping() was recently adjusted.

License

MIT © André Wisén and contributors.

Status

Early-stage / work in progress. Expect breaking changes until a 1.0 release.