3D Design and Visualization of Ecological Restoration Schemes for Open-Pit Mines

The engineering of ecological restoration for open-pit mines is becoming increasingly complex. Traditional design methods, primarily relying on 2D software such as CAD, exhibit significant limitations in spatial representation, comparative scheme analysis, and process simulation, thereby failing to adequately showcase the outcomes of restoration implementation plans. Although some research has explored 3D visualization of results using software like SketchUp and GIS, these approaches often suffer from drawbacks such as being pseudo-3D, lacking systematic design schemes, and involving substantial manual effort. Notably, 4D EcoPlan directly operates on high-precision real-scene 3D models and incorporates a sophisticated parametric design engine, which effectively mitigates the “pseudo-3D” issue often encountered with previous tools when dealing with complex terrains, thereby ensuring enhanced design authenticity and precision. This study focuses on the ecological restoration design of a specific open-pit mine, proposing an efficient 3D design and visualization methodology based on the 4D EcoPlan, a three-dimensional virtual design platform for ecological restoration. This method utilizes 4D EcoPlan to load a high-precision 3D real-scene model of the mining area. Its parametric design toolset, which is founded on specific algorithms (e.g., slope analysis algorithms, surface generation algorithms) and predefined design rules (e.g., minimum spacing for vegetation configuration, safety standards for engineering installations), facilitates interactive design of terrain reshaping, engineering installations, and vegetation configuration, along with engineering quantity calculations, while also supporting 2D output of results. This research offers a novel design concept and implementation pathway for the 3D visualization of ecological restoration projects, holding considerable reference value for 3D visualization design in ecological restoration engineering.