Splitting Geometry

You can split elements by selecting a cutting element.

1. Click Split in the Operation toolbar.

   The Split Definition dialog box appears as well as the Tools Palette. For more information about the Tools Palette, refer to Infrastructure User's Guide: Selecting Using Selection Traps.

   
   
   

2. In the Element to cut box, select the element to be split.

   You should make your selection by clicking on the portion that you want to keep after the split.

   
   
   

   You can select several elements to cut. In that case, click Element to cut again or click . The Elements to cut dialog box appears. Select as many elements as needed. Click Close to return to the Split Definition dialog box. The number of selected elements is displayed in the Element to cut box

   
   
   

   Click Remove or Replace to modify the elements list. When several elements to cut are selected, the selected portions are not taken into account as parts to keep. The parts to be kept depend on the type of the cutting element (point, curve, surface, etc.) and the orientation of cutting elements and the elements to cut. Click Other side to reverse the portion to be kept, element by element.

3. In the Cutting elements area, select the cutting element.

   A preview of the split appears. You can change the portion to be kept by selecting that portion.

   You can also select the portion to be kept by clicking Other side. This option applies on all selected elements to cut.

   
   
   

   Note:
   

   • You can select several cutting elements. In that case, note that the selection order is important as the area to be split is defined according to the side to be kept in relation to the current splitting element.

     
     

     • Right-click in the Cutting elements and select Create Join to create a join as the splitting element. If you split a surface and you keep both sides by joining the resulting splits, you cannot access the internal sub-elements of the join. The splits result from the same surface and the cutting elements are common.

4. Optional: Select the Keep both sides check box to retain the other side of the split element after the operation. In that case it appears as aggregated under the first element and both split elements can only be edited together and the aggregated element alone cannot be deleted.

   Important: If you use the Datum mode, the second split element is not aggregated under the first one, but two datum surfaces are created. In case there are several elements to cut, the Keep both sides check box is available only for the first selected element.

5. Optional: Click Show Parameters>> to view more options.

   
   
   

6. Optional: In the Options tab, select the Ignore no intersecting elements check box to split many elements (curves, surfaces, volumes) when the cutting element does not intersect all the elements.

   Important: When this check box is selected, the Intersections computation check box is cleared and become unavailable.

7. Optional: You can select the Keep elements in half space check box to keep all the elements that are on one side of the cutting infinite plane. The cutting element defines this half space.

   Warning: This check box applies only when the cutting element is an infinite plane. If the split side is not towards the element to cut, an error message is issued. Note that this behavior differs from the behavior in the Part Design workbench, i.e. no error message is issued.

   Elements to cut: dark blue and light blue surfaces ; Cutting elements: yellow and purple planes
   
   
   Result with the Ignore no intersecting elements check box selected
   
   
   Element to cut: non connex light blue surface ; Cutting element: yellow plane
   
   
   Result with Keep elements in half space check box selected
   
   

   Warning: Avoid splitting geometry when the intersection between the element to cut and the cutting element is merged with an edge of the element to cut. We advise you to use the Elements to remove and Elements to keep options to remove the positioning ambiguity.

8. Optional: You can select the Approximation tab to control the quality of the result of the Split through several parameters and modes.

9. Click OK to split the element.

   The created element (identified as Split.xxx) is added to the specification tree.

   In the case several elements to cut were used, the created elements are aggregated under a Multi-Output.xxx feature.

   
   
   

   In the illustrations below, the top-left line is the first splitting element. In the left illustration it defines an area that intersects with the other three splitting curves, and in the illustration to the right, these three elements are useless to split the area defined by the first splitting element.

   To remove or replace one of these cutting elements, select it from the list and click Remove or Replace.

You can split volumes by means of a cutting element.

Warning: This capability is only available with Generative Shape Optimizer. It only concerns volumes since the transformation of a surface can only be a surface.

Providing the element to be cut is a volume and the cutting element is a volume or a surface, you can choose whether you want the result of the split to be a surface or a volume.

You can control the quality of the result of the split through several parameters and modes.

1. Double-click the split result in the specification tree to edit it.

   The Split Definition dialog box appears.

2. Select the Approximation tab.

   The dialog box appears as follows:
   
   

3. In the Approximation mode list, select any one of the below options:

   
   

   • None: the resulting split surface is not approximated.

     By default, this option is selected.

   • Deviation: the resulting split surface is deviated according to the given length.

     Note:
     

     • The Deviation box is available when you select this option.
     • The deviation between the resulting surface and the original Split result is not more than the given value.

   • Parameters: the resulting surface is computed according to the given parameter limits.

     You can control the following parameters:
     

     • Max Order: On each scale (U, V), the polynomial approximation order is lower than the input value.
     • Max Segment: On each scale (U, V), the surface is divided into segments that define approximated areas. The number of segments is lower than the input value.

4. Click OK.

   The split result is approximated.

Important: Note that the approximation is only available for rectangle type surfaces, i.e. for the surfaces which have only four side edges.