|
Plotting a surface by path |
Scroll |
To plot a surface by path, use the Surface by path 
command.
The parameters of the surface by path are configured in the same way as the parameters of the By pathelement.
|
The object defining the section or the path of its movement can be selected before invoking the command. If the specified object is suitable for defining a section, it automatically becomes the surface section along the trajectory. If the object cannot be used as a section but can define the path of its movement, then it is selected as the path. If the object can neither be a section nor a trajectory, the selection is reset. An area in the sketch is specified only during the execution of the command. |
Step-by-step instructions
1.Specify one of the following objects as the section:
•a sketch or a closed sketch area (see section Using sketches in operations),
•a planar curve, closed or open, including one made of several segments (use of curves with subordinate curve objects has specifics,
•edge of a flat face,
•a flat face.
The name of the object selected as a section is displayed in the Section field in the Main section of the Parameters panel (if an area is selected in the sketch, the word Area is added to the text in the field).
2.Specify the path of the section. Following objects can be used as the trajectory:
•spatial curve (or a separate segment of a multi-segment curve),
•sketch line,
•edge,
•chain of the above objects in any combination.
Objects are specified in the graphic area or in the Design Tree of the model. The names of the selected objects will appear in the Path field. More details on trajectory assignment...
3.Select the type of movement of the section along the path using the Section Move group of buttons in the General section of the Parameter Panel. The following options are available:
Save slope angle,
Parallel to itself,
Orthogonal to path.
More about selecting section move type...
All the parameter values are displayed in the graphic area as the phantom of the surface.
4.You can also add the faces of the start and end positions of the section to the surface. To do this, enable the Close Surface option. The option is available if a closed object is used as a section — such as a sketch area, face, closed contour, and so on.
5.If a sketch is used as a section, you can construct a surface whose section shape changes along the path of the section's movement along the trajectory. To that end, in the section Changing the cross-section shape, set the Changing shape switch to position I (on) and define the parameters for changing the section's shape (e.g., functions for changing variable dimensions within the trajectory limits or the required values of variables at selected trajectory points). Moreover, the shape of the section is influenced by the parametric links of the sketch elements with the model objects.
The sketch can contain either a closed contour or an open one. The parameters of the section shape modification are configured in the same way as the parameters of the element by path (see section Parameters of changing the shape of the section).
6.If the shape of the section changes along the path of movement, you can see how the section looks at different points along the path. For this, in the Cross-section check section, set the Display Sections toggle switch to position I (enabled) and configure the section display. More details on checking the cross-section shape...
7.If necessary, change the build optimization option (changing the option is available if the cross-section shape remains unchanged along the entire trajectory). This may cause the appearance of the surface by path to change if the path is a complex shape (e. g. a helix with variable pitch). Expand the Additional parameters section and select the desired option from the Optimization version list. In the case of a simple path, all optimization options give the same result.
8.You cat set the name of the surface by path and its display parameters using the controls in the Properties section on the Parameter Panel. Management of color and optical properties of objects...
9.To complete the operation, click Create object 
.
The surface by path will be displayed in the graphic area; its icon .
|
If plotting produces several surfaces instead of one (for example, if you have specified as a cross-section a curve with several contours), then after completing the operation the process of changing this set of surfaces is started. Select the surfaces that you want to keep. Details... Each of the resulting surfaces is a separate object. You can independently change their colors, hide them or move them into layers. But they will be registered as created by one feature, i.e. they will all change in case you edit the plotting feature. |
10.To complete operation of the command, click Finish 
.
|
When editing the Surface by path operation in the Parameter panel, there is a Creation Options section with the Create with matching Use this button if the original section objects are replaced with other objects. This will allow preserving the associative link of the geometry, which is based on the result of this operation, with its reference objects. More about setting these options see in... |
button.See Also
