Guidelines for Creating a Sweep

Once you have OK’d the settings in the Sweep Planar Profile dialog, the Selection Menu is displayed. Through this, you are allowed to choose the curves that comprise the closed profile.

The following rules apply when selecting closed curve profile to sweep:

• All curves must be lines, arcs, conics, or splines.

• The order of selection is unimportant.

• The entire set must represent a closed curve.

• The entire set must lie on a plane.

• A single closed curve is acceptable.

• Multiple closed co-planar profiles may be chosen in one operation.

• When choosing multiple profiles keep in mind that:

• Overlapping and intersecting profiles are automatically trimmed to one another.

• Profiles that are intended to be holes within a larger outer profile are automatically detected and cut away.

See the Extrusion topic for a visual representation of using multiple profiles.

There are several rules that will govern the resulting color of a solid when multiple profiles are used for sweep operations:

• If the Get attributes from profile geometry setting is enabled under Tools>Options>Solids >Profile Functions, the attributes of the profile being extruded, swept, etc, will be retained in the result.

• If the profiles are of different colors, the first one selected will determine the color of the resulting solid.

• If the profiles are of different colors and ALLDSP>ALL or BY TYPE is used to select the profile geometry type, the color of the first one encountered in the part file database will be used. This means that the database direction will also influence the color of the resulting solid.

• Once the profile is selected, you will be prompted to select the path for the sweep. The path must be a set of lines, arcs, conics and 2D splines connected by their endpoints. While each segment of the path must be planar, the entire set can be 3-dimensional. Sharp bends are allowed. The start point of the sweep path must lie on the plane of the profile. The sweep path does not need to intersect the profile shape. Select the curves in order along the direction of the sweep. The relationship of the profile shape to the path will be maintained as it is swept along.