To Create a Planar Cross Section Using Any Coordinate System
1. Open a part or an assembly.
2. In Part mode, on the
View tab or
Home tab, click the arrow next to
Planar and then click
Planar.
In Assembly mode, on the
Home tab, click the arrow next to
Planar and then click
Planar.
3. You can create a cross section choosing either Offset or Through as described in Step 3 and Step 4.
|  The default dimension constraint type is Offset. You can change the default dimension constraint type to Through. See planar_xsec_default_type. |
To create a cross section at an offset from the selected reference, do the following:
a. Select a Coordinate System axis (X, Y, or Z) or the Coordinate System in the graphics window.
| To select the coordinate system, click ACS0 in the graphics window. |
A cross section is automatically created at the origin of the coordinate system axis using a corresponding plane of the coordinate system. For example, if you have selected X axis, then the cross section is created on the YZ plane.
A dragger appears at the origin of the coordinate system. The dragger is normal to the clipping plane and indicates the clipping direction.
An Options Toolbar opens. Expand the Options Toolbar to open the Floating Dashboard.
| • If you directly select an axis, only the Offset constraint is available. • If you have selected a coordinate system as the reference, then on the Floating Dashboard, on the Position panel, click  . From the list select X, Y, or Z. Depending upon the selection the X, Y, or Z direction of the referenced coordinate system is used to create the cross section. • To change the reference, coordinate system axis or coordinate system, on the Floating Dashboard, click the Reference Plane collector and select an axis in the graphics window. |
b. On the Floating Dashboard, in the Offset box, click and type a value for the offset distance.
4. To create a cross section passing through the selected reference, do the following:
a. Select the constraint type
Through from the
list.
b. Select a plane from the drop-down list.
5. On the
Direction panel, click
to change the clipping direction.
6. Change the location of the cross section by using the dragger or click
to enable free positioning of the clipping plane. When free positioning is enabled, you can translate and rotate the clipping plane orientation using the dragger.
7. Middle-click to complete the operation. The cross section is added to the Model Tree.
