### 2.1.12. Section Cuts

Section Cuts enable a visual verification of the lay-up definition on an arbitrary section plane through the model. The lay-up definition at the section cut can be exported to Mechanical APDL or BECAS.

The Section Cut Properties dialog contains the following options:

Figure : General Section Cut Properties

- Name: Name of the Section Cut.

- Interactive Plane: If active, modify the section plane directly in the Scene. If inactive, the following options are required:

  - Origin: Origin of the section plane.

  - Normal: Normal direction of the section plane.

  - Reference Direction 1: First in-plane reference direction (x-axis).

- Show Plane: Plot the section plane.

- Type: Mode of extrusion.

- Scale Factor: Scale the offsets of all plies.

- Core Scale Factor: Thickness of the core plies are scaled by this factor.

- Section Cut Type: Select which ply type is plotted:

  - Modeling Ply Wise: Modeling Plies are plotted.

  - Production Ply Wise: Production Plies are plotted.

  - Analysis Ply Wise: Analysis plies are plotted.

Figure : Wire Frame Options

- Interaction Type: Define the intersection of the section plane and the model:

  - Normal to Surface: Plies are plotted as normal to the intersected elements.

  - In Plane: Plies are plotted in the section plane.

Figure : Surface Options

- Use Default Tolerance: Use the default tolerance (0.1% of the average element size). If unselected, you should specify the Tolerance:

  - Tolerance: Defines the minimum edge length. Edges smaller than this length are merged.

Sweep based extrusion:

- Use Default Interpolation Settings: Use default interpolation settings. If unselected, you must specify Search Radius and Number of Interpolation Points. For more information, see 3-D Look-up Table.

Release 18.2 - © ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.