Copy of The Cross Sectioning Context Menu

The cross section context menu enables you to manipulate the selected plane; for example, you can flip the view or change the plane axis. It also provides another means to access the Define Section dialog box and the Projection Area Measurement function (described in Cross-Sectioning a 3D Model).

The context menu can be accessed by right-clicking the plane itself.

Flip Plane

When selected, the scene will change from one side of the plane to the other.

YZ Plane, XZ Plane, and XY Plane

Allows you to change the axis of the selected plane.

Move, Position, Orient, and Settings

By default, the cross-section plane will be bounded by the YZ axis that passes through the (0,0,0) point of the global coordinate system. Use the Move, Position, Orient, and Settings options (tabs on the Define Section dialog box) to precisely define other viewpoints and settings. See Working with Cross Sections for details.

Projection Area...

This command enables users to easily calculate the area of the projected plane and is active only when Projection Mode is enabled (see Cross-Sectioning a 3D Model).

Enable Dragging - When Enable Dragging is selected, two white circular handles appear at the center of each edge. Selecting one of these handles enables you to move the section plane along the normal axis or along the plane axes.

Show Section Planes

Show Section Planes - Show/hide the cross-section plane(s). The cross-section plane normally appears as a transparent gray rectangle.

See Settings, above, to change the default color.

Show Profile Edges

Show Profile Edges - Show/hide profile edges. The section profile is an outline of all the points on the model that intersect with the section plane—by default, it is outlined in red.

See Settings, above, to change the default color.

Note

If you wish to see just the profile outline, without any of the related geometry, select Cross-Section from the Standard Views options in the Views browser (see Controlling the View).

Show Profile Faces

Show Profile Faces - Show/hide profile faces for the entire scene; by default, Show Profile Faces is enabled.

See Settings, above, to change the default color.

Projection Mode

Enable/disable parallel projection plane. To view the projected plane, enable sectioning and then select the Projection Mode option from the Sectioning menu on the 3D Document Toolbar.

Export to DXF...

Export the section cut data to a .dxf file.

Projection Area

The Projection Area function enables users to easily calculate the area of the projected plane. The projected surface area is very useful in sheet metal forming applications to calculate the necessary press tonnage.

To calculate the projection area, enable the cross section and then select the Projection Mode option from the Sectioning menu on the 3D Document Toolbar. The Projection Area command becomes active, and can be accessed from the Sectioning menu or the section context menu (right-click menu).

Control of the projection plane is similar to that of the cross-section plane.

Warning

When the projected area is calculated, only the portion included in the plane will be used to calculate the surface area. So if the part falls off of the plane, be sure to move the plane such that the entire part is shown on the projection plane.