Changing the Cut Position

You can reposition the cutting surface by dragging the robot, by selecting an axis system and reference axis, or by specifying a plane using an origin point and a normal.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
Creating Cutting Surfaces

Change the Cut Using the Robot

You can use the robot to reposition the cutting plane in the model.

  1. From the Display section of the action bar, click Plot Sectioning .
  2. Drag an axis of the robot over a surface and drop it to automatically position it with its normal matching the local normal to the surface.

    If you hold the Shift key while dragging the robot, the global Z-axis is used as the normal.

  3. Drag an arc of the robot to adjust the normal.

The cutting plane changes according to the movements you make with the axis and arc of the robot.

Change the Cut Using a Reference Axis System

You can reposition the cutting plane to one of the axis systems available in your simulation and define one of its axes as the reference axis. The reference axis specifies that the axis is normal to the cutting plane.

  1. From the Display section of the action bar, click Plot Sectioning .
  2. From the context toolbar, click to edit the plot sectioning cut.
    The Plot Sectioning dialog box appears.
  3. Specify a Reference axis system:
    1. Expand the list of axis systems and axes.
    2. Select the specific axis normal to the cutting surface.

      Depending on the model, you can select global, model axis, user coordinate, or SIM axis systems.

    Tip: You can select the results axis or model axis from the tree or directly in the 3D area. However, you can select a SIM axis only from the plot sectioning context menu. A SIM axis is an axis system created specifically for a simulation and is usually part of a feature created in the scenario, such as a connector. SIM axes are non-feature-based axis systems written in the Results SIM file, which you can select only from dialog boxes.

    Note: Coordinate systems following nodal movement created in Physics Results Explorer are not supported when you create a plot section with respect to a reference axis. A warning message displays when you try to select the axis system or when you change a valid axis system to the coordinate system following nodal movement.

The cutting plane changes to reflect the values you entered.

Change the Cut by Entering Origin and Normal Values

You can reposition the cut to a new plane defined using an origin. This approach enables you to position the cutting plane more accurately than when you drag the robot.

  1. From the Display section of the action bar, click Plot Sectioning .
  2. From the context toolbar, click to edit the plot sectioning cut.
    The Plot Sectioning dialog box appears.
  3. Enter the values for the X-, Y-, and Z-positions of the origin to reposition the robot and the cutting plane.
    OptionDescription
    Origin The absolute origin of the robot used to locate the cutting plane. Enter a value for the X-, Y-, and Z-position of the origin.
    Normal The normal to the cutting plane, which indicates what is in front of the cut. Enter a value for the X-, Y-, and Z-position of the normal.
    Axis The axis through the center of a cylindrical cutting surface. Enter a value for the X-, Y-, and Z-position of the normal.
    Radius The radius of a cylindrical or spherical cutting surface. Enter a value for the radius.
    Isovalue The contour value or threshold you specify from the field results. Enter a value directly or drag the slider to adjust these values. Select Update while moving slider to see that your adjustments update immediately with changes to the slider position.
    The contours in front of or behind a cut are displayed or hidden depending on your settings in Rendering Options.

The cutting plane changes to reflect the values you entered.