Element Trees: Draft Features
This section introduces and shows how to create, redefine and access draft features.
Draft Feature
The Draft feature adds a draft angle between -89.9° and +89.9° to individual surfaces or to a series of surfaces.
You can draft either solid surfaces or quilt surfaces, but not a combination of both. The first selected surface determines the type of additional surfaces (solid or quilts) that can be selected as draft surfaces for this feature.
Some of the terms associated with the Draft feature are:
• Draft surfaces—The surfaces of the model to be drafted.
• Draft hinges—Lines and curves on the draft surfaces that the surfaces are pivoted about (also called neutral curves), or quilt of surfaces. Draft hinges can be defined by:
◦ A plane, in which case the draft surfaces are pivoted about their intersection with the plane.
◦ Individual curve chains on the draft surfaces.
◦ A quilt, in which case the draft surfaces are pivoted about their intersection with the quilt.
• Draft direction—Direction used to measure the draft angle and can be defined in terms of:
◦ A plane, in which case the draft direction is normal to this plane.
◦ A straight edge or a datum axis, in which case the draft direction is parallel to the edge or axis.
◦ Two points, such as datum points or model vertices, in which case the draft direction is parallel to the line connecting the two points.
◦ A coordinate system, in which case the draft direction initially defaults to the direction of its x-axis.
• Draft angle—The angle between the draft direction and the resulting drafted surfaces. If the draft surfaces are split, you can define two independent angles for each side of the drafted surface. Draft angles must be within the range of -89.9° and +89.9°.