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Un-sectioning Parts in 2D Section Views

Often you will need to create 2D section views that require several of the parts be represented in an un-sectioned fashion. Bolts, rods, spindles, shafts, and other similar items frequently require this representation within a section view. In Alibre Design, it's a quick and easy process to get the representation you are after.

Step 1: Create a Section View

You can create any section view you like by first creating a figure, such as a line, and then using the Section View tool on it.

Step 2: Un-Section Specific Parts
In our example, we want the central part to be represented in an un-sectioned fashion. We can do this in a single step. Right click on any edge of the part. Note that you must click on an edge of the part - clicking on the sectioned area will not offer the menu choice you are after. From the menu, select Do Not Section.

After selecting this option, the part whose edge you clicked on becomes un-sectioned.

You can use the same process to re-section the part.

Step 3: Managing the Section View

Using the Drawing Explorer on the left side of the window, you can quickly see which parts are sectioned and which are not. This is especially helpful with very complex section views that contain many parts. You can right click directly on items in the Drawing Explorer under any Section View node to section or un-section them as well. In the example below, we can see there are 2 sectioned parts, representing the top and bottom half of the enclosure. The part with the un-sectioned icon represented the central shaft.