#### 2.1.12.1. Types of Extrusion

The following extrusion types are available:

- Wire Frame: The midsurface of the plies are represented by lines.

- Surface Normal: The plies are illustrated by surface elements. The extrusion follows the element normals.

- Surface Sweep Based: The plies are shown as surface elements. The offset direction follows the interpolated element normals (potential field defined by the shell normals).

  Figure : Element Normals

  The interpolation is based on a Look-up Table which specifies the Search Radius and Number of Interpolation Points.

Figure : Surface Normal vs. Surface Sweep Based Extrusion

In general, the sweep-based algorithm is more robust in sharp corners with thick laminates, but the extrusion of t-joints may be less accurate.

Section Cuts can also be used to plot ply-wise properties such as angles. For more information, see Lay-up Plots.

Figure : Ply-Wise Angles on the Surface Section Cut

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