You can create view cuts based on a plane, a cylinder, a sphere, or an isosurface corresponding to a constant value of any contour variable. Cuts along the X-, Y-, and Z-planes are created by default.
To create or edit a view cut:
Locate the options for creating or editing a view cut.
To create a view cut, select Tools
View CutCreate from the main menu bar.
The Create View Cut dialog box appears.
To edit a previously created view cut, select ToolsView CutEdit from the main menu bar. From the menu that appears, select the view cut you want to edit.
The Edit View Cut dialog box appears.
Tip:
You can also use the view cut manager to create or edit a view cut. From the main menu bar, select ToolsView CutManager. To create a view cut, click Create. To edit a view cut, select it from the list and double-click on it or click Edit.
Type a name for the view cut. For more information on naming objects, see “Using basic dialog box components,” Section 3.2.1. You cannot change the name in the Edit View Cut dialog box, but you can rename a view cut (see “Copying, renaming, and deleting a view cut,” Section 34.2.4).
Select the cut shape. Click the arrow next to the Shape text field, and select a shape from the list that appears: Plane, Cylinder, Sphere, or Isosurface. The shape cannot be changed once the cut has been created.
If you select Isosurface as the cut shape, the cut will be created on a constant value of the current primary field output variable. There are no other options to select for isosurface cuts. Isosurface cuts cannot be created for variables stored on surfaces, since no information is available for the interior of the model. See “Selecting the primary field output variable,” Section 24.4.2, for information on changing the primary field output variable.
By default, the cut is defined on the displayed frame, and the structure moves through the cut as it deforms. Toggle on Follow model deformation to define a Lagrangian cut; i.e., the cut is defined on a reference frame and deforms with the model when you display a different frame. Choose the Reference frame to be the First, Last, or Current frame of the analysis.
For planar, cylindrical, or spherical view cuts, toggle on the method you wish to use to define the view cut values: Key-in or From CSYS (the latter option is available only if the output database contains a coordinate system or if you have created a coordinate system in the current session).
If you select the Key-in method, enter the coordinates for the following points, depending on the cut shape:
For Plane cuts, enter the coordinates for the origin; the normal axis; and, optionally, axis 2. Axis 2 is an axis lying in the plane; the view cut can be rotated about this axis or about Axis 3, defined as the axis orthogonal to the normal axis and to Axis 2. See “Repositioning a view cut,” Section 34.2.3.
For Cylinder cuts, enter the coordinates for the origin and the cylinder axis.
For Sphere cuts, enter the coordinates for the origin.
If you select the From CSYS method, choose a coordinate system from the list that appears (systems designated with an asterisk have been saved to the current output database), and select the following, depending on the cut shape:
For Plane cuts, select Axis 1, Axis 2, or Axis 3 of the coordinate system to be the normal axis. The cut can be rotated about either of the other two coordinate system axes; see “Repositioning a view cut,” Section 34.2.3.
For Cylinder cuts, select Axis 1, Axis 2, or Axis 3 of the coordinate system to be the cylinder axis.
For Sphere cuts, the origin of the coordinate system will be the origin of the cut; you do not need to select anything else.
Click OK to close the Create View Cut or Edit View Cut dialog box.
When you create a new view cut, it is activated automatically (i.e., used to display the model in the current viewport). By default, the cut is positioned halfway through the model.
