• Measure >> Cross Section >> Shell command shows a cross section of a selected shell and measures its perimeter, centroid, area, etc.

Step   

Execute Measure >> Cross Section >> Shell command as follows:

1. Select Measure >> Cross Section >> Shell from the menu or click the icon from the Measure toolbar.

2. Select the desired shell. ( See Shell selection ) All the shells except the selected one disappear from the screen.

3. The following dialog box appears.

Specify the View Method you want to apply. If you select Linear, RapidForm measures the cross section perpendicular to the specified Axis. If you select Radial, RapidForm measures the cross section generated by intersecting the plane containing the specified Axis and the selected shell. The rotation angle about the specified Axis is controlled by the Position value.

In Position field, specify the position of the cutting plane either by typing in the value or dragging the slide bar. The position 0.0 means the center of the bounding box of the shell along the specified axis.

Axis option is for selecting the axis, along which a cross section is generated.

Check View Section Only option to see only the cross section curve.

Check Align to screen option to change the viewpoint so that the model is viewed from the selected axis. This option is not applicable for the Custom axis.

Check Hide front option in order not to display the portion below the cutting plane.

Check Use Local Coordinate option to use the axis of the local coordinate bound to the selected shell.  

Click the right mouse button to popup sub menu.

 

Click Pick Custom Path >> Ref. Vector to display the section curve perpendicular to a specified reference vector.
Click Pick Custom Path >> Curve to display the section curve perpendicular to a specified curve.

Click Pick Ref. Plane to display the section curve parallel to a picked reference plane.

Click Draw Cutting Line to display the section curve cut by a user defined line.

 

4. To measure the cross section, press Info button and select the cross section by clicking the left mouse button on it. The following information appears on the lower left side of the workspace window.

Perimeter is the length around the cross section and can be represented Open and Closed perimeter

Area is the area of the cross section.

Centroid is the coordinate of the centroid of the cross section. It is represented as a red sphere.

When the cross section does not form a closed path, Area and Centroid can not be calculated and Open Section is shown on the screen instead.

Click the right mouse button to popup sub menu.

Click Add Centroid as Ref. Point to create a reference point with the Centroid.

5. To measure the distance between 2 points on the section curve, press Dist. Then, move the mouse pointer near the section curve. and sample points appeared on the curve. Just select 2 points to measure their distance. The distance information is displayed on the screen as follows.

Click the right mouse button to popup sub menu.

Use Picked Point option, selected by default, to measure the distance between two selected points.

Use Min. Distance option, to measure the minimum distance between the first selected point and another section curve.

Use Normal Distance option, to measure the normal distance from the first selected point to another section curve.

6. Push Export button to save a cross section in DXF format.

7. Push Close button to close the dialog box and quit the command.

• If there is no reference coordinate bound to the shell, the Use Local Coordinate option is not activated.