PartDesign AdditiveLoft

Description
Additive Loft creates a solid in the active Body by making a transition between two or more sketches (also referred to as cross-sections). If the Body already contains features, the additive loft will be merged to them.



On the left: cross-sections (A), (B) and (C); created Additive loft on the right.

Dialog-based Workflow

 * 1) Press the  button.
 * 2) In the Select feature dialog, select a sketch to be used as base profile object and click.
 * 3) * Alternatively, a single sketch can be selected prior to pressing the Additive loft button.
 * 4) In the Loft parameters, press the  button.
 * 5) Select the next sketch in the 3D view. Repeat to select more sketches in the order you want them to be lofted through.
 * 6) Set options if needed and click.

Selection-based Workflow

 * 1) Select several sketches. It is hereby important in what order you select them:
 * 2) * The sketch selected at first will become the base profile object in the next step
 * 3) * The sketch(es) selected after the first one will become the loft section(s). Also here the selection order is important: The sketch selected as second will become the first loft section, the one selected as third becomes the second section and so on.
 * 4) Press the  button.
 * 5) Set options if needed and click.

Options

 * Ruled surface: makes straight transitions between cross-sections. Dos not apply to a loft with two cross-sections. If not checked, transitions will be smooth.
 * Closed: makes a transition from the last cross-section to the first, creating a loop.
 * Press the button to remove a sketch, by selecting it in the 3D view.

Properties

 * : name given to the operation, this name can be changed at convenience.
 * : lists the sections used.
 * : see Options.
 * : see Options.
 * : non applicable.
 * : non applicable.
 * : true or false. If set to true, cleans the solid from residual edges left by features. See Part RefineShape for more details.

Limitations

 * Sketches must form closed profiles.
 * It is not possible to loft to a vertex.
 * A cross-section cannot lie on the same plane as the one immediately preceding it.
 * To better control the shape of the loft, it is recommended that all the cross-sections have the same number of segments. For example, for a loft between a rectangle and a circle, the circle may be broken down into 4 connected arcs.
 * Loft will be created in the order that cross sections were added

Known Issues

 * Some failure modes will turn the part black

Links

 * Part Loft Technical Details explains how a Part Loft is created, much of its content is relevant to the PartDesign Additive loft.