Description

At the top of the Cutting frame (shown below), Enable Cutting will turn on an active cutting plane which can be used to scanned through the currently selected block(s).

The Examine Task: Examine Cuts, Cutting Group
The Cutting frame has all the tools needed to define the actual cutting plane.

For unstructured blocks, this cutting plane can be an XYZ Cartesian plane (XY, XZ or YZ) or a User Specified cut (explained below). Note that, for clarity, the active cutting plane is rendered slightly larger than the entities being examined. Furthermore, it will have a green border frame and semi-opaque shaded interior making it easier to visualize exactly where the cutting plane intersects the model. The frame of the cutting plane can be clicked and dragged to a new position directly in the Display window. Additionally, the cutting plane can be stepped through the block's volume using the left and right arrow pad arrow keys on the keyboard.

For structured blocks, the cutting plane can be either the same XYZ Cartesian plane as for unstructured blocks, it can be an IJK computational coordinate plane, or it can be a User Specified cut. IJK cutting planes can also be stepped through the block's volume using the left and right arrow pad arrow keys on the keyboard. Note that IJK cutting planes are also available for prism blocks only in the K direction.

 

Tip: IJK cutting planes allow you to quickly scan through the interior of a structured block(s). This is particularly useful if you have found that you have highly skewed cells or cells with negative volume and need to visualize why such cells are misformed.

The Enable Cutting toggle turns the active cutting planes on and off. Check this box to have the XYZ, IJK (structured blocks only), or User Specified cutting plane rendered. Note that only one type can be active at any given time.

Selecting the User Specified cutting option will expand the User Plane Specification frame as show below. The ommands in this frame are used to create cutting planes that do not align with principal axes or computational coordinate directions. Enabling the User Specified option will activate the User Plane Specification frame (shown below) which contains options for creating or selecting the desired cutting plane.

Examine, User Specified Cuts Frame
Use the commands in the User Plane Specification to define cutting planes that do not align with principal axis or computation coordinate directions.

The Align with View command will create the cutting plane in line with the current viewing angle.

In order to use one of the other three options listed in the Plane Mode frame, first click Begin Plane Specification. Use the radio buttons to specify which plane creation option to use.

  • Point and Normal: The point and direction of the plane can be specified in the XYZ and Direction text fields, respectively. The vector entered in the Direction field will be normalized after entry. For a more interactive selection process, the location of the point can be moved by left-clicking and dragging the point to different locations in the display.
  • Three Points: Creates a plane from three points chosen in the display (Create, Planes).
  • Select A Plane: Allows an existing database plane to be used. After finishing creating or selecting the plane, End Plane Specification will finish the process and render the cutting plane in the Display window.
 

Note: You must have at least one database plane present for the Select A Plane radio button to be enabled.

Below the radio buttons, there is a text field surrounded by single and double arrow buttons. The arrow buttons can be used for fine increment scanning and the double arrow buttons for coarse increment scanning. The exact coordinate value (XYZ cutting) or computational coordinate (IJK cutting) can be defined in two ways: it can be entered directly into the provided text field, or it can be specified by selecting a point from the Display window (e.g. a grid point on a block's bounding surface domain, a database entity, a visible overset object, a grid point on a existent examine/persistent cutting plane, or an examine extrema cell). Note that you need to use the Shift+LMB shortcut in order to be able to select a point from the Display window. When doing this, a small circle on the mouse pointer will indicate that a point is ready for selection (shown in the image below).

 

Tip: You can make a cutting plane slice through a metric's maximum or minimum volume cell by simply rendering these extrema cells and then using the Shift+LMB shortcut to select one of their vertices. This will force the cutting plane to exactly pass through the selected point.

Cutting Plane: Select Point
Use the Shift+LMB shortcut to be able to select a point from the Display window to define the position of a new examine cutting plane. When doing this, a small circle on the mouse pointer will indicate that a point is ready for selection.

The Make Persistent Cut command will allow you to transform the examine cutting plane being defined persistent into a persistent cutting plane. For more information on persistent cutting planes, review the Create, Cut Planes section.

 

Note: The Make Persistent Cut command allows you to create persistent examine cutting planes. In contrast with regular examine cutting planes, persistent planes remain visible outside the Examine menu.

The Style pull-down allows you to choose from three different forms of XYZ cutting plane:

Type Description
Crinkle The cut generates a continuous sheet of cell faces where the cutting plane intersects the cells.
Cells The cut generates a sheet of entire cells intersected by the cutting plane.
Flat The cut generates a true intersection of the cells by the cutting plane.

The Scrolling pull-down allows you to choose how you wish the cutting plane to behave when it reaches the beginning or ending boundary of the block's volume:

Type Description
Recycle This option allows the cutting plane to return to the opposite end of the block's volume and continue scanning in the same direction.
Dead End This option forces the cutting plane to stop upon reaching the block's boundary.
Bounce This option allows the cutting plane to change directions when reaching a boundary and continue scanning in the opposite direction.

The Type pull-down, which is only available for XYZ cutting plane types, allows you to customize the increment as you navigate in a prescribed direction:

Type Description
Steps Specifies the integer number of discrete locations from the minimum to maximum of the cutting coordinate in the prescribed direction.
Step Size Specifies the coordinate distance in the prescribed direction between consecutive cutting plane locations. Once defined, that allows you to navigate the interior by a desired increment.

Enter the value of Steps or Step Size in the text input box next to the Type pull-down menu.

The Cutting Plane Extents frame, which is also only available for XYZ cutting plane type, allows you to define the range of the cutting plane coordinates.

The Examine Task: Examine Cuts, Cutting Group
The Cutting Plane Extents frame allows you to define the range of the cutting plane coordinates.

If an X cutting plane is selected, set X Min and X Max so that only the interior in between will be taken into account. Click on Reset to set the cutting plane extents back to the default which is the minimum and maximum extent of the selected block(s). Below the Cutting Plane Extents frame is the Demote Non-Focus Physical Cuts option. When toggled on this option will automatically demote to wireframe rendering cuts in all non-focus blocks.

Demonstration

Examining a Grid Using Cut Planes

Persistent Cutting Planes

Identifying Problem Cells