Sections as guide objects allow you to create planar or box-shaped sections through the structural model. They are helpful for analyzing partial areas, checking load distributions, or displaying the results of specific planes. They are also very practical for creating plan and detail views for drawing sheets.
Active
The check box in the section on the top right controls whether the section is enabled and effective in the work window. You can also use the
button to enable the new (or selected) section for display.
Categories
In this section, you specify the section type and define the parameters.
Section type
Two different types of sections can be created. Select the appropriate entry from the list.
| Section type | Description |
|---|---|
| Simple plane | Cutting plane in the model |
| Box | Rectangular "box" in an area of the model |
The other parameters are aligned with the section type and the definition type.
Definition type
The list provides several options for describing the plane of the section or the box geometrically.
If you arrange the section parallel to the plane of a coordinate system, the center of the section or box is automatically placed at the center of the model in this plane. When defining via points, angles, or vectors, the first point defines the center of the cutting plane. For a box, the center of the box is automatically placed at the center of the model in this area.
The point coordinates or rotation angles can be specified in the sections on the right. The
button allows you to define the points graphically in the work window.
Parallel to
This category is displayed when the section is defined in a plane of the coordinate system. In the list, select the plane of the global or user-defined coordinate system to which the cutting plane runs parallel.
Direction
The direction determines whether the section is arranged positively or negatively with respect to the plane or base level of the box. Depending on the specification, the objects above or below the section are displayed. The display is also influenced by the setting in the 'Model display' category.
The direction results from the orientation of the axis perpendicular to the plane. You can check the section direction by activating the model preview in the dialog graphic using the
button (see image New Section).
Model display
In the list, you can specify which objects of the model are captured by the section.
| Model display | Description |
|---|---|
| Only intersection | Displays only objects that lie exactly in the plane of the section; all other objects transparent |
| Clipped by section | Displays all objects above or below the plane or within the box; all other objects transparent |
| Full model | Shows all objects in full display, not transparent |
Offset
In the section on the right, you define the distance of the section from the reference plane. For a simple plane, this is the plane of the global or local coordinate system; for a box, it is the base level of the rectangular box.
Example: Defining a box
The following procedure is recommended for creating a box-shaped section:
- Open the New Section dialog box.
- Select the Box section type.
- Check that the Clipped by section model display option is preset.
- Specify the definition type (for the example: 3 points).
- In the Origin point section on the right, click the
button.
- In the work window, define the base level of the box by clicking three points in this plane one after the other.
- In the dialog box, click the
button.
- In the work window, you can now adjust the area using the handles.
The handles have the following functions:
| Corners: Change the box height in positive or negative direction (up/down) | |
|
Centers: Change the box size in directions of the plane (left/right, front/back) |
