The Sectioning command is very useful when you are working with large circuits when you want to visually check the overlaps or distances, measure the individual part, or make a screenshot for the presentation. It is available within the Assembly module, in the Space Analysis tool group. Starting a command opens a secondary window that displays only the elements covered by the section.
Starting a command opens a new window containing 4 tabs (Definition, Positioning, Result, Behavior) and two useful keys, Section Plane and Volume Cut.
The following example illustrates the main functionality of the Sectioning command. Starting a command opens a secondary window. For a better view, it is useful to click Window / Tile Vertically, and in a single window see the circuit and the plane of the cross-section, and in the second window, the result of the cross-section.
In the Definition tab, it is possible to change the name of the intersection (by default, the system will assign the names Section.1, Section.2, ...).
In the Positioning tab, you can select the three main axes of the coordinate system through which you want to make a cross-section, besides that there are 5 more useful icons (Edit Position and Dimensions, Geometric Target, Positioning by 2/3 Selections, Invert normal and Reset position) which will help you to precisely create a cross-plane.
The cross-section can be manually moved with the left mouse button, normally to the plane.
Clicking on the Edit Positions and Dimensions opens a new window in which the beginning of the cross-section level can be set, so it is possible to translate and rotate around the main axes.
By clicking on the Geometrical Target
for the plane of the cross-section it is possible to set the plane surface on the model.
By clicking the Positioning by 2/3 Selections the plane of the cross-section can be set by selecting two directions, or e.g. ellipsis.
The Invert Normal rotates the cross-section coordinate system while the Reset Position
sets the plane of the intersection by default through the X-axis.
In the Result tab, clicking on the Clash Detection icon shows the areas where the overlap occurs.
Here you can add a network for a more precise cross-section analysis using the Grid and Edit Grid
In the Behavior tab, you can choose between automatic and manual updates. In addition, Section Freeze can be set up, with which the state of the cross-section is frozen. In this case, the subsequent movement of the cross-sectional plane no longer affects the result of the cross-section.
If the state of the cross-section is frozen, the same can be exported by clicking on the Export As icon. In addition, there is an option Export and Open and Export in Existing Part. It can be exported as Part or as Drawing.
If the frozen state of the intersection is exported within the product itself, a padlock appears next to the icon.1 in the tree, which means the cross-section is frozen.