Trace Section with Panel

Trace Section with Panel allows you to create a panel with a boundary shape defined by selected Section elements.

1. Click Trace Section with Panel to display the Create Plate window.

   

2. Specify the Plate Thickness and Surface Justification of the Panel to be created.

3. Optionally, a name and description can be specified for the Panel.

4. Define the Panel boundary by picking Section elements in sequence, where each Section selected represents an edge on the Panel.

   Panel vertices are created at the intersection of adjacent edges.

   When the first Section is selected it is highlighted and the Section Justification Line field is populated with names of P-lines available for this type of Section.

5. Select the name of the P‑line to be used to define edges on the panel.

   The selected P-line name is used to define all edges unless a selected Section does not have that P-line. In this case, the edge is defined by the Section justification line.

   

   A new Panel vertex is calculated when each Selection is selected, and this is shown in the 3D graphical view.

   

6. At any time while edges are being defined, click Remove Last Edge to redefine the previous vertex.

   

7. When the Panel boundary is defined, click Close Profile to complete the panel boundary definition.

   A vertex is created at the intersection of the first and last edge.

   

8. Click OK to create the Panel element.

   The new Panel is created in the Panel Storage Area if one is defined. If no Panel Storage Area is specified, the panel is created at the current location in the Design database hierarchy. If an error occurs because the Panel cannot be created at the current database location or the panel definition is invalid, an error message is output. If the Panel boundary shape is invalid, you can remove the last edge and continue with the panel definition until a valid panel boundary is defined.

   

In the following example, the first and last edges are parallel so it is not possible for a vertex to be created at the intersection of these edges. When you click Close Profile, an edge is created joining the first and last vertex.

The next example shows that the same Section Element can be selected more than once to define the path of a Panel boundary. Here the edge between vertex 2 and 3, and the edge between vertex 6 and 7 are defined by selecting the same Section element.