Surface: Divide Surface by Curve

Function

Divide Surface by Curve disconnects a number of surfaces (Shape) using curves (Edge, Wire).  Only shells or faces can be selected for the surfaces here.

Call

 Geometry > Surface > Divide by Curve

<Divide Surface by Curve>

Select Target Surface(s)

Select Target Surfaces to be divided.  The Selection Filter is set to Shape, and only shells or faces can be selected.
 

Select Tool Curve

Select Tool Curves, which will be used to divide the Target Surfaces. When dividing with multiple Edges.  Note, the Edges must be combined into a single Wire.

Projection

When the Tool Curves do not exist on the target faces, they can be projected onto the target faces.  Then the direction of projection needs to be specified.

Direction

Select a direction (Datum Axis, Datum Plane, Face, Edge) directly.

2 Point Vector

Specify the direction by a vector which is defined by selected 2 points. Snap is applicable.

Point on Curve (Ratio)

The direction of the projection is determined by the shortest path from a point on the Tool Curve to the Target Shapes.

Point

The direction of the projection is determined by the shortest path from a selected Point to the Target Shapes.

Direction of Shortest Path Line

The directions of the projection are determined by the shortest paths from Tool Curves to the Target Shapes.

Separate Divided Faces

All the Divided Faces exist as a compound.  If the option is checked, the compound will be automatically exploded into individual face units.  The user must be cautioned that all shells are exploded into face units if the option is turned on.

Notes

When geometry data files are imported, surfaces may not be divided depending on their shapes.  In such cases,

• Imprint the Tool Curve on the surface to be divided.  The Imprint operation creates a shell, which consists of divided faces.  When we explode this imprinted shell, we will obtain the same result as from the Divide command.

• There may be cases where surfaces are not divided even by the Imprint operation.  In such cases, we can project the Tool Curves onto the surfaces and then use the projected edges to break the face edges by the Break Face-Edge menu.  Subsequently, we divide the faces with the Divide option turned on using Edge on Face.

• If none of the above works, the surface and the Tool Curve are extruded into a solid and a surface respectively.  The temporary surface is used to divide the temporary solid.  The desired face is maintained by the Extract command, and the temporary solid and surface are deleted.