112 — Top Profile: peak and arch¶
Lesson 100 sets the top of a panel with two numbers — Top Left Elevation and Top Right Elevation — which gives you a top edge that is either level or a straight slope between them.
That covers most panels. This lesson covers the other two shapes: a peak and an arch.
Note
This lesson also exists in the browser. Work it in ConstructiVision on the web — same steps, same values, so you can follow either and end up with the same panel.
Where they are¶
All three controls are on Main Panel Details, in Panel Details, right after Top Left Elevation and Top Right Elevation, in this order:
control |
what it does |
|---|---|
Top Peak Distance |
how far the peak sits from the left edge |
Top Peak Elevation |
the height of the peak vertex |
Top Arch Radius |
curves the whole top edge into a single arc |
Top Peak Elevation is greyed out while Top Peak Distance is 0. Type the distance first.
A peak — a gable top¶
A peak needs both peak fields. The elevation alone is not enough:
Top Peak Distance — where along the panel the peak sits, measured from the left edge. A peak at mid-span on a 20-foot panel is 120. Tab out of it and Top Peak Elevation becomes available.
Top Peak Elevation — how high the peak goes. It should be at or above both the left and right elevations, since it is the high point between them.
Leaving Top Peak Distance at zero means “no peak”, whatever you type in the elevation. That is the single most common way this feature appears not to work: the elevation is set, the distance is not, and the top stays a straight line between left and right.
An arch — a curved top¶
Top Arch Radius replaces the straight top with a single arc. A larger radius is a flatter curve; zero means no arch.
An arch and a peak describe the same edge two different ways, so set one or the other.
What the seat measured on AAA039¶
AAA039 is 28’-0” wide with Top Left and Top Right Elevation both 33'-6". Its concrete
top is at 33’-4 1/2” (the ToC marker): the 33’-6” includes the 1 1/2” top plate that sits on it.
top |
entered |
what the panel did |
title block |
|---|---|---|---|
peak |
Top Peak Distance |
the concrete rises to 37’-6” at mid-span, 4’-1 1/2” above its ends |
32.5 Cu. Yd., 131.5 KIPS |
arch |
Top Peak Distance back to |
the top becomes one arc, its crown about 3’-5 5/8” above the ends |
32.7 Cu. Yd., 132.2 KIPS |
The level panel reads 31.2 Cu. Yd. and 126.2 KIPS. The title block’s AREA stayed at 971 Sq.Ft. for both shapes, and Top Elev. stayed at 33’-6”.
Reading the top as a whole¶
you want |
set |
|---|---|
level top |
left = right, peak distance 0, arch 0 |
sloped top |
left ≠ right, peak distance 0, arch 0 |
gable / peak |
peak elevation and peak distance |
curved top |
arch radius |
Warning
Neither of these features appears anywhere in the sample projects. Measured across all 146 panels in both ConstructiVision Sample Building and Arlington Airport A:
Top Arch Radius 0 on all 146 panels Top Peak Distance 0 on all 146 panels
Every sample panel has a level or sloped top. So there is no worked example to compare your
result against, and — more importantly for us — **no test we own would notice if peak or
arch stopped working.** A feature with zero corpus coverage has no regression net under it.
If you use either of these on a real job, that is worth telling us about: it would give the
product its first real fixture for them.
Watch the lesson¶
The video sets the peak and then the arch from What the seat measured on AAA039. Because no sample panel uses either shape, the values are chosen for the lesson, not taken from a real job.