SpaceClaim Online Help

Cross section views

Planar cross-section views show interior details of your design. You locate a plane through the details of interest and SpaceClaim creates the view.

To create a cross-section view, you must already have at least one view. You can add a cross-section to any view type.

In some cases, you may want to only show the geometry that lies in the section plane. This is called an Area section. In other cases, you may want to see the geometry behind the plane as well. This is called a Total section. Both types are illustrated in the image below.

The DetailAspects of a design incorporated to communicate with others or submit the design for review. Use the tools on the Detailing tab to annotate designs, create drawing sheets, and review design changes. You can customize detailing settings to conform to standards or create your own custom style. section of SpaceClaim Options also has settings for Cross Sections. Refer to the ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. Options and LineA straight line, arc, or spline drawn in Sketch mode or on a layout plane. Lines have length but no area. When you pull a sketch into 3D with the Pull tool, lines become edges. Style Options.

Planar cross section views can be created in the following ways:

• As a new view projected from an existing view.
• By converting an existing view to a cross section.

To create a new planar cross-section view

1. Click the Cross SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. tool  in the Detailing tab Views group.

2. Click the Select Reference Geometry Inside Drawing ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. tool guide.

3. Set the following options in the Options panelArea of the user interface that enables you to modify functions specific to tools. before you position the view:

   • Create a Total Cross-SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail.

     • Uncheck the option to set the property to Area.

     • Check the option to set the property to Area.

   • Arrow Orientation

     • Horizontal

     • Vertical

     • Through Selected Geometry to orient the arrows based on the highlighted object, which can be sketched geometry.

   • Placement

     • Create as General ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. to place the view in any location on the drawing sheet.

     • Create as Auxiliary ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. to link the orientation of the cross-section view to the view containing the arrows.

4. Drag and place the section line on an existing view. If you chose Through Selected Geometry, the section line will snap to highlighted objects and orient accordingly.

5. The new view is created and attached to the cursor for placement.

6. Click to position the new section view in your drawing sheet.

   • For an Auxiliary view, drag parallel to the section arrows to place the view.

   • A general view can be placed anywhere in the sheet.

7. Press Esc or S to exit the tool.

Alternate workflow

1. Sketch a single line in a drawing sheet view.
2. Select the single line.
3. Enter the Cross SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. tool.
4. MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. your mouse to place the planar cross section view.

In addition to Planar sections, you can also create Offset cross sections and Aligned cross sections.

To convert an existing view to a cross-section view

1. Click the Cross SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. tool on the Detailing tab's Views ribbon group.

2. Click the Select SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. tool guide and select the view you want to convert to a cross-section.

   If dotted gray lines do not appear around the view, it is not selected. If this occurs, press Esc and try again.

3. Set the Create a Total Cross-SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. option to set the view's section type property to Total. Uncheck the option to set the property to Area. See examples in the image above.

4. Mouse over a related view to display the cross-section indicator and preview the cross-section.

   The indicator line snaps to geometry in the view. Geometry in front of the cutting plane is not displayed.

5. Click to place the cross-section indicator and create the cross-section view.

   The view is labeled automatically.

6. Press Esc or S to exit the tool.

To modify a cross-section view

1. MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. the cross-section indicator to change the cutting plane.

2. Select the cross-section view.

3. Modify the values in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved., or right-click and select a style from the mini-toolbar. Change the value in:

   • Orientation Type to change the cross-section view to a General viewOne of the view selections for drawing sheets. General view makes the selected view independent of the view used to create it. See Projected view, Cross-section view, and Detail view.. This makes the selected view independent of the view used to create it.

   • RenderingMode available from the Properties panel for a view on a drawing sheet. Use Rendering mode to change the Graphics style for the view. Select Inherit if you want to link the graphics style to the parent view. See Graphics styles. mode to change the graphics style for the view. Select Inherit if you want to link the graphics style to the parent view.

   • ScaleSolid or surface: Change the size of the selected object using the Pull tool. You can scale dynamically or by entering a scale value. Drawing sheet or cross-section views: Magnify or shrink the view by selecting a View in the Structure tree and editing the Properties panel. to magnify or shrink the view. When you change the scale, the Type property changes to Independent from sheet. You can select Linked to sheet to set the scale to be the same as the scale used for the drawing sheet.

   • SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. Type to create a total or area cross-section. Select Total to display 3D geometry not on the cross section plane. Select Area to display only the geometry on the cross-section plane. You can select None to turn the view into a General viewOne of the view selections for drawing sheets. General view makes the selected view independent of the view used to create it. See Projected view, Cross-section view, and Detail view..

4. Select a region within the cross-section view.

5. Modify the values in the Properties panelArea of the user interface that displays editable details about the selected object(s). This panel is initially displayed on the lower left side of the screen, but can be moved.. Change the value in the following Cross hatching properties:

   • Exclude from sectioning to remove the selected region from the cross-section view.

   • FillUse the Fill tool to simplify or clean up geometry by extending surrounding faces to eliminate a selection. The selected region is filled in or healed with the surrounding surface or solid. styles to add or removing hatching from the region.

   • Angle to modify the angle at which the hatching lines are drawn.

   • Spacing to modify the space between hatching lines.

   • OffsetDistance an edge, segment, or curve is moved or copied. to modify the start point of the first hatching line.

To reverse the direction of a cross-section view

Right-click the cross-section arrow and select Flip Viewing Direction.

To publish a cross-section view to 3D

1. Right-click the cross-section view on the drawing sheet or in the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components..

2. Select Publish to 3D from the context menu.

   A published section appears as a root node in the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components..

   You can right-click the published cross-section in a Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace. and select ClipHide all geometry in a design above or below the grid or selected plane. with PlaneConstruction geometry consisting of a flat surface. Planes can be used for a 2D sketch, section view of a model, a neutral plane in a draft feature.. You can also use the MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool to move a published cross-section.

Examples

Selecting a published cross-section to clip with plane.

 

Using the MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool to move a published cross-section.

 

Working with cross sections

• When you select and drag an individual section line segment, the segment you are dragging will snap to and merge with other sections as it moves across other segments on the drawing sheet.

• You can create an offset section from inside the tool. To view the cross-section cut indicator (red diamond), select the Cut Existing Sections tool guide, then click a section line.

• To create a cross-section from inside the tool, click the Cross SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail. tool, and then within the drawing sheet, select a view. Use the Select Reference Geometry Inside Drawing ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. tool guide to place the section line.

• You can only divide a section on segments that are perpendicular to the principal direction; at your cursor location you can right-click on a section line segment and select SplitUsing the Combine tool to split solids or surfaces. You select a solid or surface to use as a Cutting tool to cut the target. See Cutter object. SectionDesign mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. View is cut away to show interior detail.. This right-click option is no longer available for segments that are parallel to the section direction.

• To view a dotted-line preview of the principal direction of a cross section, scroll with the mouse wheel onto the entire section line.