Sweep
This is a special case of using the Extrude option. Sweep extrudes a geometry entity along a selected polyline. This is useful for creating curved solid volumes. The polyline does not need to be linear. To use Sweep:
- Select the Geometry workflow tab.
- Select one polyline or planar surface to apply the Sweep operation and one polyline to define the sweep path.
- Select the Sweep option from the toolbar or the Extrude/Sweep/Loft Tools sub-menu in the Geometry menu.
- A dialog should appear. The Profile (Section) is the geometry to be copied along the Path polyline. You can edit the selection of Profile (Section) and Path using the drop down menus.
- Define the Profile Position. The Profile Position is the point on the profile aligned on the path. By default, it is the centroid of the profile. You can shift the profile position by entering a U and V value corresponding to a shift in the vertical and horizontal direction away from the centre.
- Define the Profile Normal. The Profile Normal is used to align the profile with the path. It can be defined as the x, y, or z-axis, parallel to the path or as an XYZ vector.
- Define the Profile Rotation. The profile will be rotated about its normal axis by the entered angle in degrees or radians.
- Similar to the Extrude option you can choose to use the Close Volume option to create a solid volume from the sweep geometry. You can also use the Reverse Path option to reverse the direction of the sweep.
- You can use the Preview option to view your sweep entities before you accept the changes by pressing OK.