WorkPlane

Create a work plane in 3D for drawing 2D objects that can be extruded, revolved, or embedded.

Syntax

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).create(<ftag>,"WorkPlane");

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).set(property,<value>);

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).getType(property);

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).geom().geomSequenceMethod

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).geom().feature();

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).setAttribute(attribute,<value>);

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).getAttribute(attribute);

Description

A work plane embeds 2D objects in 3D. The sections below describe how to define the location of the work plane and how to create 2D objects in it. You can also use a work plane in the CrossSection and Partition features. In that case, you do not need to draw anything in the work plane.

Unite Objects

There is an option to unite all objects in the work plane before using the 2D geometry in 3D. Uniting all objects can improve the handling of the 2D geometry when extruding it, for example. You can control the union of 2D objects using the following properties:

Table 3-176: Valid Properties, unite Objects
Property	Value	Default	Description
absrepairtol	double	See below	Absolute repair tolerance.
repairtol	double	See below	Relative repair tolerance, relative to size of union of inputs.
repairtoltype	auto \| relative \| absolute	See below	Repair tolerance type: automatic, relative, or absolute.
unite	on \| off	off	Unite objects.

The tolerance settings are active when unite is set to on. The default values for the repair tolerance is taken from the geometry sequence’s default repair tolerance.

Visualization

To specify the in-plane visualization of the 3D geometry and activate the ability to draw directly on the work plane in 3D, use the following properties:

Table 3-177: Valid Properties, Visualization
Property	Value	Default	Description
showcoincident	on \| off	on	Show coincident 3D geometry.
showintersection	on \| off	on	Show intersection of 3D geometry.
showprojection	on \| off	on	Show projection of 3D geometry.
workplane3d	on \| off	of	Draw on work plane in 3D.

Defining the Location of the Work Plane

A work plane has a local coordinate system that is orthonormal and positively oriented (right-handed). The work plane coincides with the xy-plane in the local coordinate system. The following properties control how the work plane is defined.

Table 3-178: Valid Properties, Location
Property	Value	Default	Description
planetype	quick \| faceparallel \| edgeparallel \| edgeangle \| circleperpendicular \| normal \| vertices \| coordinates \| transformed	quick	Type of data defining the work plane.
contributeto	String	none	Tag of cumulative selection to contribute to.

For information about the selresult and contributeto properties, see Selections of Geometric Entities. Note that in a work plane’s Plane Geometry, the selresultshow and selindividualshow properties are not available.

Depending on planetype, additional properties are available.

Quick

This creates a work plane parallel to one of the global coordinate planes.

Table 3-179: Valid Properties, Quick
Property	Value	Default	Description
quickplane	xy \| yz \| zx \| yx \| zy \| xz	xy	Coordinate plane.
quickx	double	0	x-coordinate for work plane (used when plane is yz or zy).
quicky	double	0	y-coordinate for work plane (used when plane is xz or zx).
quickz	double	0	z-coordinate for work plane (used when plane is xy or yx).
quickoffsettype	distance \| vertex	distance	Type of offset specification.
offsetvertex	Selection		Vertex for offset.
quickorigin	global \| vertexproj	global	Origin of local coordinate system.
originvertex	Selection		Vertex for origin.
quickaxis	natural \| vertexproj	natural	Local x-axis.
axisvertex	Selection		Vertex for axis.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Face Parallel

This creates a work plane that is parallel to a planar face in a geometry object

Table 3-180: Valid Properties, Face Parallel
Property	Value	Default	Description
face	Selection		Planar face.
offset	double	0	Signed offset in the direction of the local z-axis.
reverse	on \| off	off	Reverse direction of local z-axis.
offsettype	distance \| vertex	distance	Type of offset specification.
offsetvertex	Selection		Vertex for offset.
origin	facecenter \| boxcorner \| vertexproj	facecenter	Origin of local coordinate system.
originvertex	Selection		Vertex for origin.
faceparallelaxis	s1 \| s2 \| vertexproj	s1	Local x-axis.
axisvertex	Selection		Vertex for axis.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Edge Parallel

This creates a work plane that is parallel to a planar edge in a geometry object.

Table 3-181: Valid Properties, Face Parallel
Property	Value	Default	Description
edge	Selection		Planar edge.
offset	double	0	Signed offset in the direction of the local z-axis.
origin	edgecenter \| boxcorner	edgecenter	Origin of local coordinate system.
reverse	on \| off	off	Reverse direction of local z-axis.
offsettype	distance \| vertex	distance	Type of offset specification.
offsetvertex	Selection		Vertex for offset.
edgeparallelorigin	startvertex \| endvertex \| vertexproj	startvertex	Origin of local coordinate system.
originvertex	Selection		Vertex for origin.
edgeparallelaxis	tangent \| vertexproj	tangent	Local x-axis.
axisvertex	Selection		Vertex for axis.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Edge Angle

This creates a work plane through a straight edge of a geometry object. The work plane makes a given angle with the tangent plane of a face in the same geometry object. The face must be adjacent to the edge, and its tangent plane must be the same at all points on the edge. The origin of the local coordinate system coincides with the start vertex (if reverse is off) or end vertex (if reverse is on) of the edge. The direction of the local x-axis coincides with the direction of the edge (if reverse is off) or its opposite (if reverse is on). If the property angle is zero, the direction of the local y-axis points into the face. In general, the local coordinate system is rotated by angle about the local x-axis.

Table 3-182: Valid Properties, Edge Angle
Property	Value	Default	Description
angle	double	0	Angle between face and work plane.
edge	Selection		Straight edge.
adjface	Selection		Face adjacent to edge in the same object.
reverse	on \| off	off	Reverse direction of local x-axis.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Circle Perpendicular

This creates a work plane that is perpendicular to a given circular edge. The origin of the local coordinate system is at the circle’s center. By default, the local x-axis goes through the edge’s start vertex. Thus, if the geometry is rotationally symmetric, the symmetry axis coincides with the local y-axis.

Table 3-183: Valid Properties, Circle Perpendicular
Property	Value	Default	Description
circedge	Selection	empty	Circular edge.
circpoint	startvertex \| endvertex \| othervertex	startvertex	Point on plane.
circvertex	Selection		Vertex on plane.
circoffset	double	0	Offset angle.
reverse	on \| off	off	Reverse direction of local x-axis.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Normal Vector

This creates a work plane defined by a normal vector and a point on the plane. Together with a RigidTransform feature, this makes it possible to orient an object so that one of its planar faces gets a prescribed normal vector.

Table 3-184: Valid Properties, Circle Perpendicular
Property	Value	Default	Description
normalvector	double[3]	{0,0,1}	Normal vector.
normalpoint	coord \| vertex	coord	Point on plane (defined using coordinates or as a geometry vertex).
normalcoord	double[3]	{0,0,1}	Coordinates of point, used when normalpoint is set to coord.
normalvertex	Vertex selection		Vertex for point, used when normalpoint is set to vertex.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacements xw and yw.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle.

Vertices

This creates a work plane parallel to a plane through three vertices v1, v2, and v3. When offset=0, the origin of the local coordinate system coincides with the first vertex v1. The x-axis of the local coordinate system is in the direction v2-v1. The direction of the local z-axis is given by the cross product (v2-v1)x(v3-v1) or its opposite (if reverse is on).

Table 3-185: Valid Properties, Vertices
Property	Value	Default	Description
offset	double	0	Signed offset in the direction of the local z-axis.
reverse	on \| off	off	Reverse direction of local z-axis.
vertex1	Selection		First vertex.
vertex2	Selection		Second vertex.
vertex3	Selection		Third vertex.
displ	double[2]	{0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
rot	double	0	Rotation angle of local coordinate system.

Coordinates

This creates a work plane through three points p1, p2, and p3. The origin of the local coordinate system coincides with the first point p1. The x-axis of the local coordinate system is in the direction p2-p1. The direction of the local z-axis is given by the cross product (p2-p1)x(p3-p1).

Table 3-186: Valid Property, Coordinates
Property	Value	Default	Description
genpoints	double[3][3]	{{0,0,0},{1,0,0},{0,1,0}}	Points.

genpoints[n][i] is the ith coordinate of the nth point.

Transformed

This creates a work plane as a transformation of another work plane, using a displacement and a rotation.

Table 3-187: Valid Properties, Transformed
Property	Value	Default	Description
transax2	double[2]	{0,0}	Spherical angles theta and phi, used if transaxistype is spherical.
transax3	double[3]	{0,0,1}	Axis vector, used if transaxistype is cartesian.
transaxis	double[]	{0,0,1}	Rotation axis. Vector has length 3 if transaxistype is cartesian, and length 2 if transaxistype is spherical. Alias for transax2 and transax3.
transaxistype	x \| y \| z \| cartesian \| spherical	z	Coordinate system used for axis. Used if transspecify is set to axis.
transdispl	double[3]	{0,0,0}	Displacement of local coordinate system.
transedge	Selection		Edge selection. Used when transspecify is set to edge.
transeulerang	double[3]	{0,0,0}	Intrinsic Z-X-Z Euler angles α, β, and γ, used if transspecify is set to eulerang.
transrot	double	0	Rotation angle, if transspecify is not set to eulerang.
transspecify	axis \| eulerang \| edge	axis	Specify an axis of rotation, Euler angles (Z-X-Z), or a straight edge.
workplanesrc	String	this	Tag of PartInstance feature to take work plane from, or this to take work plane from this sequence.
workplane	String	xyplane	Tag of input work plane, or xyplane.

Part Instances

In a geometry part, the following property is available:

Table 3-188: Valid Property in a Feature in a Geometry Part
property	Value	Default	Description
showworkplane	on \| off	on	Show work plane in part instances. This property is only available if the work plane is in a geometry part.

Selections of Resulting Entities

For selections of resulting entities, the following properties are available:

Table 3-189: Valid properties for selections of Resulting Entities
Property	Value	Default	Description
selplaneshow	on \| off	off	Show selections from Plane Geometry in physics or part instances.
selresult	on \| off	off	Create selections of all resulting objects.
selresultshow	all \| obj \| bnd \| edg \| pnt \| off	bnd	Show selections, if selresult is on, of resulting objects in physics, materials, and so on, or in part instances. obj is not available in a component’s geometry. dom, bnd, and edg are not available in all features.

Creating 2D Objects in the Work Plane

The work plane owns a geometry sequence that contains the features that define the 2D objects you draw in the work plane. You access this geometry sequence by

model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).geom()

where <ftag> is the name of the work plane feature. You can add geometry features in this 2D sequence as usual.

Attributes

The following attributes are available:

Table 3-190: Valid attributes
Name	Value	Default	Description
construction	on \| off	off	Designate the resulting objects as construction geometry.

Compatibility

The plane type circularedge from earlier versions is still valid as an alternative to its replacement circleperpendicular, and the plane type general from earlier versions is still valid as an alternative to its replacement coordinates.

Example

Create a work plane with a rectangle. When the work plane is built, the rectangle is embedded in the space of the 3D sequence:

Code for Use with Java

Model model = ModelUtil.create("Model1");

model.component().create("comp1");

GeomSequence g = model.component("comp1").geom().create("geom1",3);

g.create("wp1","WorkPlane");

g.feature("wp1").set("quickplane","yz");

g.feature("wp1").geom().create("r1","Rectangle");

g.feature("wp1").geom().feature("r1").set("pos", "1 1");

g.run();

Code for Use with MATLAB