Section Curve

Insert Curve Section

The Section Curve command enables you to create section curves on surfaces or solids (even if contained in a component). The command also applies to curves (in which case the sections will be points).
If a component had been set as the current one and there is more than one copy of it in the model, a confirmation request is displayed. If you confirm, section curves will be duplicated in each instance.

First of all, in the Entities drop-down list you will have to choose the type of entities to create the sections on: Solids, Surfaces, Curves or Meshes. After selecting the entities to be sectioned, in the Sampling Mode drop-down list you can choose the section definition method:

Parallel

Creates section curves by using a plane (or two or more parallel planes). You can define the Section distance between a section and the next.

Radial

Creates sections using a radial set of planes about an axis to be selected. The angular step of the sections can be defined through an appropriate Angle mini-dialog box/handle pair.

Along curves

Creates sections on a set of planes oriented along the normal of the curve. The distribution of the planes along the curve can be chosen in the Distribution drop-down list:

Parametric	Planes are positioned at equal variations of the curve natural parameter.
Curvilinear	Planes are positioned at equal variations of the curve normalized parameter.

You can also specify the No. of sections to be created.

An Insert Curve on Surface check box is available in the selection list, enabling you to create curves of the "Curve on Surface" type (See " Curves on Surfaces" for details).

When Insert Curve on Surface is selected, the resulting curves will be of the Curve on Surface type.
When Insert Curve on Surface is cleared, the curve type depends on the command and on the situation (generally a NURBS). In this case, an additional option is available under More Options: High quality approximation.
- When the check box is selected, the resulting curves will be G3 or G4 continuous and will have higher degree.
- When the check box is cleared, the resulting curves will have degree 3 and continuity 2 (or will be lines, where possible). Notice that if one or both surfaces have edges, the resulting curves are split into two or more parts at those edges.

The Associative Mode check box is also available, enabling you to create curves which retain a link to the surface they derive from. See further details on associativity for curves of the Curve on Surface type in " Curves on Surface".
Please note that associativity cannot be applied to meshes. So, when the Associative Mode box has been checked, the icon of a history event will be added to the Model Structure only if the entities the Section Curve command is applied to are not meshes. If the section is applied only to meshes, no history event is added to the Model Structure regardless of the associativity flag value.

Finally, in the Layer increment and a Color increment boxes under More Options, you can specify the increase in layer and color between a section and the next (the layer is the one displayed in the Layers tab; the color number is the one displayed in the color palette: see also " Setting and Modifying the Color").

If you interrupt the command, your selections and settings are not lost: they are "frozen" in order to enable you to use them again without having to repeat them all.
Next time you start the command, in fact, the Restore Selection button ( ) will be displayed on top of the selection list. If you select the Restore Selection button ( ), all the selections you made and the settings you defined last time you used the command will be restored, enabling you to go on with no need to repeat those selections/settings.
When the command is started with some pre-selected entities, if you click the Restore Selection button you will be asked to confirm restoring the frozen command selections, thus resetting the current selection.
Further details in "Restore Selection modality for selections and settings".

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