Sketch Planes

A sketch plane is a flat surface on which you can draw a sketch.

The sketch plane definition comes from the coordinates of its origin and two direction vectors. The two direction vectors provide the local x and y axes on the plane.

There are three types of sketch plane:

Default Sketch Planes

Default sketch planes are labeled XY, YZ, and XZ. These three sketch planes are the starting point for every 3D-CAD model. The default sketch planes are predefined—you cannot create, edit, or delete them. Typically, the first step when creating a 3D-CA D model is to create a sketch on one of the default sketch planes.

Transform Sketch Planes

Transform sketch planes are sketch planes defined relative to an existing sketch plane or body face. Transformation parameters define the relation of the sketch plane to the reference sketch plane or face. These parameters are a translation vector and three angles of rotation.

See Creating a Transform Sketch Plane.

Reference Planes

Reference planes are custom sketch planes that you create. You can use any available local coordinate system to define this type of sketch plane.

See Working With Reference Geometry in 3D-CAD.

A 3D-CAD model can contain any number of transform sketch planes and reference planes. You can also export the coordinate system of a sketch plane in 3D-CAD for use in Simcenter STAR-CCM+.

Changing the Sketch Plane of a Sketch

You can move sketches onto different sketch planes or faces to modify the position of its child features. For example, this facility permits you to relocate the position of an extruded body by associating its starting sketch with a different sketch plane.

To change the sketch plane on which a sketch is located:
  1. Right-click on the relevant Sketch node in the feature tree and select Edit Sketch Plane.
  2. In the Edit Sketch Plane panel:, select one of the following options:
    • To relocate the sketch onto a particular sketch plane, click 3D-CAD and select the desired sketch plane from the feature tree. You can only select sketch planes that are higher up in the feature tree than the selected sketch. Sketch planes that are below the selected sketch are in a rolled-back state and cannot be selected. If necessary, you can insert alternative sketch planes further up in the feature tree.
    • To relocate the sketch onto a face, select the desired planar face in the 3D-CAD View scene.
  3. Click OK.

    The sketch and any dependent features are relocated according to the settings that you applied in the panel.