SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [213]
Using a Default Section View
The Default Section View has the same in-line and pre-drawn optional techniques as the Detail View, as well as the same advantages and disadvantages.
Section Views may have a straight line that may go through the center of a cylindrical feature. Even though you are in a drawing and not in a model sketch, you may still benefit from model sketching techniques. For example, to draw a straight vertical line through the model shown in Figure 15.9, in the images on the left, you can hover the cursor over a circular edge to wake up the center, and then pick up the inference lines to the center. Another technique is to show the temporary axes (using the View menu), just sketch the line, and then assign a sketch relation in the same way that you would in a feature sketch. This technique is shown in the images on the right.
FIGURE 15.9
Aligning a line in a Section View sketch
You can also use jogged section lines with the default section tool. Similar sketch relation techniques are more common in jogged sections because there are more sketched lines. The results are shown in Figure 15.10.
FIGURE 15.10
Default and jogged Section Views
You can also tell a Section View how deep you want the section view to see into the part. In the PropertyManager of the Section View, you can set a depth with a number or you can select a face, edge, or vertex to determine the depth. When you select the check box at the top of the Section Depth panel, a graphic handle becomes available on the drawing view, which enables you to visually drag the depth as well. This functionality is shown in Figure 15.11.
FIGURE 15.11
Setting a depth for a Section View
Using a Partial Section View
A Partial Section View is created when the section line does not cut all the way across the model. In Figure 15.12, the line that is drawn to create the Partial Section View was the vertical section line. The prompt that appears enables you to confirm that you intended to create a partial section cut. If you answer No to the prompt, the result is an error, with the new view displayed in the dangling color.
FIGURE 15.12
A Partial Section View requiring only a single sketched line
You can use another technique to create a section that looks like a partial section but is not considered a partial section by SolidWorks. You can create it by drawing perpendicular lines and selecting the line to be used as the projection direction for the section before clicking the Section View tool. This differs from a true partial section in that it shows half of the model unsectioned. It is also similar to the Aligned Section View, but it does not unfold the second sectioned side. When the prompt shown in Figure 15.12 displays, clicking Yes causes the resulting view to look like the view on the left in Figure 15.12. Clicking No causes the view shown in Figure 15.13 to appear. Creating the view shown in Figure 15.12 requires only a single sketched line, while Figure 15.13 requires perpendicular sketched lines.
FIGURE 15.13
A Section View requiring perpendicular sketched lines
Using an Aligned Section View
The Aligned Section View takes two separate sections at right angles to one another and lays them out flat on the page. It is essentially two partial sections that display side by side. The section lines look identical to those shown in Figure 15.11, but the resulting view is different, as shown in Figure 15.14. The finished view aligns with the selected sketch element.
FIGURE 15.14
The Aligned Section View
Editing a Section View
Section Views are edited in the same way as Detail Views. You can edit the section lines directly by dragging, or the section line sketch through the RMB menu. You can click the RMB menu and select the Edit Sketch command to edit sketch relations, or to add to or remove sketch elements from the sketch.
Section Views are also deleted in the same way as detail views, with the option to also delete the underlying sketch for the section.