| Power Cylinder Quick Help |
|  | Quick Help Home nPower Software Home Quick Video |
| Overview |
| The Power Cylinder tool provides a convenient way to create a spline cage that consists of 3 too 5 Rail Sweep surfaces. The initial shape is either a complete cylinder or a cylinder with a slice. The shape of the cylinder can be modified by editing the points and curves of the associated spline cage sketch or using the Sub-Object Point or Sub-Object Curve editing on the Power Cylinder object itself. Note that the modification of the Length, Width and Height will reset the spline cage to the shape of the box and loose any edits done on the spline cage. Once you have modified the spline cage, you can change the number of segments without resetting the box shape because the new spline cage is generated using the existing surfaces. Note: See Usage and Tips in Power Box Quick Help. |
| Power Cylinder Parameters |
| Radius: Radius of the cylinder. Height: Height of the Cylinder in the Z direction of the LCS Slice On: If checked this will enable the Slicing of the cylinder and creation of corresponding start and end face rail sweeps. Slice From: Angle in degrees where the slice starts from relative to the X Axis being zero degrees. Slice To: Angle in degrees where the slice ends relative to the X Axis being zero degrees. Note that the slice will always proceed in a counter clockwise angle from the "Slice From" angle to the "Slice To" angle. |
| Spline Cage Settings |
| Spline Cage Type: Smooth Bezier Curves: the Bezier points will all be "Smooth" C1 Bezier Curves: the Bezier points will all be "C1 Bezier Points" Length/Width/Height Segs: specifies the number of segments in the X, Y and Z direction. Note that the number of segments is one less than the corresponding number of curves. Z-Axis Symmetry: specifies that a symmetry will be applied at the local Z-Axis about the X Y plane. Note if you apply symmetry, you should not move any of the points on the X, Y plane off the plane. Rotational Symmetry: specifies a symmetry is to be applied about the plane defined on the cylinder axis using the X, Z plane. |
| Edge Rounding |
| Note: Rounding is disabled for cylinders with the slice is on. Rounding Turned On: This is a short cut to turn on "Step Back Blending" in the "Power Surface Parameters" panel. Turning this on, sets the blending to "Blend Corners" and the cross section type to "G2 Blend Section" in that dialog. If this is on a blend will be put between all edges and at the corners. If symmetry is turned on, it will also blend the connection between the symmetric pieces. Round Size: This is a short cut to modify the Step Distance% in the "Power Surface Parameters" panel. |