Trenchfoot

Surface and volumetric trench mesh generator with shipped presets, Plotly previews, and a lightweight Python SDK.

Install

pip install trenchfoot

Want volumetrics or visualisations? Install extras as needed:

• pip install "trenchfoot[mesher]" for gmsh-powered volume meshes.
• pip install "trenchfoot[preview]" for matplotlib snapshot renders.
• pip install "trenchfoot[viz]" for Plotly HTML viewers.

Scenario Gallery

Color key: trench surfaces use warm soil tones; embedded geometry is colour-coded per group.

Scenario	Top	Side	Oblique
S01_straight_vwalls
S02_straight_slope_pipe
S03_L_slope_two_pipes_box
S04_U_slope_multi_noise
S05_wide_slope_pair
S06_bumpy_wide_loop
S07_circular_well

S07 circular well preset

A deep cylindrical well with criss-crossing pipes at different elevations:

{
  "path_xy": "<<32-vertex circle approximation, radius=1.5>>",
  "width": 2.0,
  "depth": 2.5,
  "wall_slope": 0.05,
  "ground": {"z0": 0.0, "slope": [0.0, 0.0], "size_margin": 2.0},
  "pipes": [
    {"radius": 0.20, "length": 4.0, "angle_deg": 0, "s_center": 0.25, "z": -0.5},
    {"radius": 0.15, "length": 3.5, "angle_deg": 45, "s_center": 0.5, "z": -1.2},
    {"radius": 0.10, "length": 3.0, "angle_deg": -60, "s_center": 0.75, "z": -1.8},
    {"radius": 0.12, "length": 3.2, "angle_deg": 90, "s_center": 0.0, "z": -2.2}
  ],
  "spheres": [{"radius": 0.25, "s": 0.4, "z": -1.5}],
  "noise": {"enable": true, "amplitude": 0.02, "corr_length": 0.4, "octaves": 2, "gain": 0.5}
}

CLI quick start

trenchfoot-generate --help
trenchfoot-generate --preview --skip-volumetric --gallery docs/scenario_gallery.md
trenchfoot-plot packages/trenchfoot/scenarios/S05_wide_slope_pair/trench_scene.obj --open

Set TRENCHFOOT_SCENARIO_OUT_ROOT=/tmp/trench-previews (or another writable path) to keep generated assets out of your checkout.

Python API

from trenchfoot import scene_spec_from_dict, generate_surface_mesh, generate_trench_volume, gmsh_available

spec_dict = {
    "path_xy": [[0.0, 0.0], [5.0, 0.0]],
    "width": 1.0,
    "depth": 1.2,
    "pipes": [{"radius": 0.1, "length": 1.8, "angle_deg": 0.0, "s_center": 0.5}],
    "boxes": [],
    "spheres": [],
    "noise": {"enable": False},
}

scene = scene_spec_from_dict(spec_dict)
surface = generate_surface_mesh(scene, make_preview=True)
surface.persist("./surface")

if gmsh_available():
    volume = generate_trench_volume(spec_dict, lc=0.4, persist_path="./volume/trench_volume.msh")

SurfaceMeshResult keeps per-group faces, metrics, and optional preview PNG bytes; call .persist(...) when you need files. VolumeMeshResult exposes node coordinates, elements, and physical groups while still letting you stay in memory.

Testing

pytest -rs

The suite exercises each preset (surface + volumetric), the gallery helpers, and the SDK smoke paths.