Think of a sweep as a non linear extrusion – the section follows a defined path or trajectory through space and maintains it’s internal dimensions and it’s position relative to the trajectory.

The main issue when creating simple sweeps is the placement of the 2D sketch – the section – relative to the path it is to follow – the trajectory.

In the above example two identical circles have been swept along the same trajectory – the centre of the circle remains the exact same distance from the trajectory at every point and the cross section remains normal the trajectory at every point.

With the same trajectory and section, two very different forms have been created.

With the circle on the inside of the trajectory the volume of material created is overlapping itself – it is self intersecting.

 

Construction

  1. activate the sweep  tool
  2. select a trajectory – existing edges, sketched curves or datum curve
  3. create a chain of edges if needed
  4. enter the sketch environment and create the section