Creo Elements/Direct Modeling provides a tool to help you analyze the draft angle or taper of a part. Especially useful in plastic housing design, a draft analysis can highlight areas on a model that do not satisfy given draft parameters. Such parts may be difficult or impossible to remove from the mold.

The basis for an analysis is the facet model of a face or part. The standard Creo Elements/Direct Modeling faceting can display a clear analysis with respect to the draft angle. (The facet model of a part or face can be seen by clicking Wire in the Show dialog box.)

You can apply a draft analysis to an entire part or a list of faces. The selected faces are analyzed in relation to the given draft parameters (draft direction and critical angle). If a face contains an area at an angle between the negative and positive draft angles, then that face is referred to as a critical face. It may be necessary to insert a seam on the face, or modify the model.

In the display of a draft analysis, it is possible that a critical area on a face be small and therefore difficult to see. The Show Critical option allows you to highlight all the critical faces on the part or in the group of faces. Additionally, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling informs you of the total number of critical faces in the analyzed faces.

Creo Elements/Direct Modeling uses a color distribution (for example, Green-Red-Blue) to display the analysis result. The most positive angles are displayed in the first color (Green), the middle color (Red) represents angles close to 0 degree, and the last color (Blue) represents negative angles. All angles smaller than the negative limit or greater than the positive limit are displayed with the most intense color values. Between the limits the color values are interpolated with respect to the current draft angle.