Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Chapter 8 Creating and Working with Solid Model Features
193
In Figure 8-17A, the bottom shelf has been created as an extruded solid from an
ellipse. The shelf is .375″ thick and is centered on the UCS origin. The underside of the
shelf rests on the XY plane. A second ellipse is drawn on the XY plane and rests on the
underside of the shelf. This ellipse serves as the path for the 3D path array. A construc-
tion cylinder has also been created with its base resting on the XY plane. The construc-
tion cylinder is 2″ in diameter and 2″ in height, the dimensions of the table feet. The
construction cylinder is the item to be arrayed. During the operation, the base point of
the array is specifi ed as the top center point of the construction cylinder. This aligns
the top of the cylinder with the start of the path. Since the path is an ellipse, AutoCAD
defi nes the start of the path as one of the quadrant points on the major axis. When the
base point is selected, the cylinder is then aligned with the quadrant point. This is a
suffi cient start point for the array.
After selecting the
ARRAYPATH
command, the construction cylinder is selected
as the item to array and the construction ellipse is selected as the path. The command
sequence continues as follows.
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: AS↵
Create associative array [Yes/No] Yes: N↵
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: M↵
Enter path method [Divide/Measure] Measure: D↵
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: I↵
Enter number of items along path or [Expression]
current:
4↵
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: B↵
Specify base point or [Key point] end of path curve:
(Use the
Center
object snap to
pick the center of the top of the construction cylinder)
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: L↵
Enter the number of levels or [Expression] 1: 2↵
Specify the distance between levels or [Total/Expression]
current:
2-3/8"↵
Select grip to edit array or [ASsociative/Method/Base point/Tangent direction/Items/
Rows/Levels/Align items/Z direction/eXit] eXit: ↵
The resulting array is shown in Figure 8-17B. The four cylinders on each level of
the array are evenly divided along the elliptical path. Because a non-associative array
was created, the cylinders can be selected and edited as independent objects. Notice
that the four cylinders in the second level of the array rest on the top of the shelf at
the correct position along the Z axis. In Figure 8-17C, the four cylinders in the second
level of the array have been changed to 1″ in diameter and 14″ in height using the
Properties
palette. The edited cylinders form the table supports. A shaded version of
the completed table is shown in Figure 8-17D after copying the shelf along the Z axis
to create the top.
NOTE NOTE
Grips are available for editing an associative array after the array is created. Hover
over a grip or pick on a grip to edit the array. If you pick a grip and more than one
option is available, use the
[Ctrl]
key to cycle through the options.