Dead end branches connected to excluded branches are not flagged as no entry/ no exit warning with airflow simulation.

[Nathan Wineinger]

If working in a model and I exclude a branch that is connected to another branch that I do not label as excluded or close end, when I execute an airflow simulation, the non-excluded branch should be flagged with a "no entry" or "no exit warning. I do not get this error. The problem with this is that it hides potential errors within my model if I accidentally excluded the wrong branches. One work around is that I can simply delete the excluded branches so that it flags connected branches again, but this is not ideal if I decide I want those excluded branches back in the model.

[Martin Griffith]

Hi Nathan, thanks for your question. I'm not sure what we can do about this. The Exclude option is not really synonymous with the Delete option. Exclude means to exclude from the Air simulation and to zero the airflow, but the airway is still there. We may have to have a think about this.

Can I ask how the airways were accidentally excluded? Did you have some airways selected that you didn't know about when you were editing some other airways?

[Nathan Wineinger]

Hello Martin,

Sorry I never got back to you on this issue. I accidentally wasn't subscribed to this channel and so never received an email. Regarding the issue above, the problem occurs when using the stages function starting in early stages and expanding development to later stages. Typically, when doing a Feasibility (or similar) level study for a ventilation system we'll start with building a model for the last stage of the mine life and work back. This strategy works well with locking each stage working back and excluding dead-end branches on the fringes of the network.

When building a staged model starting from the first stage and moving forward, excluded branches at the fringes of Stage 1 for instance, may be flow-through branches in Stage 2. This means that excluded branches for subsequent models may be located in the middle of airways that are connected. 

I understand that for if you have a long line of dead-end branches, it is definitely faster and more convenient to just exclude or close the last branch instead of have to worry about doing that for all branches down the line. 

Possibly a solution would be an error showing open ends adjacent to excluded branches? Not sure if that would be possible.

Thanks,

Nathan