Pro/ENGINEER FAQ 2009

Edit: I’m obviously falling behind the rest of the internet using video, but here’s a link to a video. (No comment, yet)

Calling the variable section sweep the “King” of solid features might be a little grand, but the variable section sweep is arguably the most powerful solid feature in the Pro/E tool set.

Having staked that claim, I’m going to start an ongoing discussion of the VSS, so that I can record observations working with this interesting feature.

As an example, here’s a fairly simple construction with just two datum curves and a circular x-section.

In my definition, a variable section sweep is a swept blend between sections created at multiple locations along a trajectory.

The trick, I think, is to understand how and where Pro/E is going to create the x-sections to be blended.

In this case the endpoints of the curves lie in planes normal to the trajectory, to make things simple.

Notice above, though, that the arc endpoints of the two datum curves are not in the same planes determined by normals to the trajectory. Do you see why there are two solid edges through the middle of the VSS in the first figure? This is because Pro/E chose to create 4 x-sections through the middle portion of the trajectory because the endpoints lie in different planes. This is a function of the VSS that you can control to improve appearance and tangency of your parts.