PROBLEM 8–36

PROBLEM 8–37

PROBLEM 8–38

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PROBLEM 8–39

PROBLEM 8–40

PROBLEM 8–41

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PROBLEM 8–42

PROBLEM 8–43

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PROBLEM 8–44

PROBLEM 8–45

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PROBLEM 8–46

PROBLEM 8–47

PROBLEM 8–48

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CHAPTER 9

SECTION VIEW BASICS

Principles of orthographic projections remain the key method for the production of engineering drawings.
As these drawings get more complicated in nature, the job of the designer becomes more challenging in
the interpretation of views, especially where hidden features are involved. The concept of slicing a view
to expose these interior features is the purpose of performing a section. In the following image on the left
is a pictorial representation of a typical flange consisting of eight bolt holes and a counterbore hole in the
center.

The drawings in the following image on the right show a typical solution to a multiview problem
complete with Front and Side views. The Front view displaying the eight bolt holes is obvious to
interpret; however, the numerous hidden lines in the Side view make the drawing difficult to understand,
and this is considered a relatively simple drawing. To relieve the confusion associated with a drawing too
difficult to understand because of numerous hidden lines, a section drawing is made for the part.

To understand section views better, see the illustration in the following image on the left. Creating a
section view slices an object in such a way as to expose what used to be hidden features and convert
them to visible features. This slicing or cutting operation can be compared to that of using a glass plate or
cutting plane to perform the section. In the object shown in the following image on the left, the glass
plate cuts the object in half. It is the responsibility of the designer or CAD operator to convert one half of
the object to a section and to discard the other half. Surfaces that come in contact with the glass plane are
crosshatched to show where material was cut through.

A completed section view drawing is shown in the following image on the right. Two new types of lines
are also shown, namely, a cutting plane line and section lines. The cutting plane line performs the cutting
operation on the Front view. In the Side view, section lines show the surfaces that were cut. The
counterbore edge is shown because this corner would be visible in the section view. Notice that holes are
not section lined because the cutting plane passes across the center of the hole. Notice also that hidden
lines are not displayed in the Side view. It is poor practice to merge hidden lines into a section view,
although there are always exceptions. The arrows of the cutting plane line tell the designer to view the
section in the direction of the arrows and discard the other half.

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The cutting plane line consists of a very thick line with a series of dashes approximately 0.25″ in length,
as shown in the following image on the left. A polyline may be used to create this line of 0.02″ thickness.
The arrows point in the direction of sight used to create the section, with the other half generally
discarded. Assign this line one of the dashed linetypes; the hidden linetype is reserved for detailing
invisible features in views. The section line, in contrast with the cutting plane line, is a very thin line, as
shown in the following image on the right. This line identifies the surfaces being cut by the cutting plane
line. The section line is usually drawn at an angle and at a specified spacing.

A wide variety of hatch patterns is supplied with the software. One of these patterns, ANSI31, is
displayed on the left in the following image. This is one of the more popular patterns, with lines spaced
0.125″ apart and at a 45° angle.
The object in the following image on the right illustrates proper section lining techniques. Much of the
pain of spacing the section lines apart from each other and at angles has been eased considerably with the
use of the computer as a tool. However, the designer must still practice proper section lining techniques
at all times for clarity of the section.

The following image illustrates common errors involved when applying section lines to a cutaway view. At “A,” the
section lines run in the correct direction and at the same angle; however, the hidden lines

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have not been converted to object lines. This will confuse the more experienced designer because the presence of hidden
lines in the section means more complicated invisible features.

At “B” is another error, encountered when sections are created. Again, the section lines are properly
placed; however, all surfaces representing holes have been removed, which displays the object as a series
of sectioned blocks unconnected, implying four separate parts.
At “C,” the object appears to be properly section lined; however, upon closer inspection, notice that the
angle of the crosshatch lines in the upper half differs from the angle of the same lines in the lower-left
half. This suggests two different parts when, in actuality, it is the same part.
At “D,” all section lines run in the correct direction. The problem is that the lines run through areas that
were not sliced by the cutting plane line. These areas in “D” represent drill and counterbore holes and are
typically left unsectioned.

We use standard orthographic projection to show features of the object in areas where we are not cutting
through material.

These have been identified as the most commonly made errors when an object is crosshatched.
Remember just a few rules to follow:

• Section lines are present only on surfaces that are cut by the cutting plane line.
• Section lines are drawn in one direction when the same part is crosshatched.
• Hidden lines are usually omitted when a section view is created.
• Areas such as holes are not sectioned because the cutting line only passes across this feature.

FULL SECTIONS
When the cutting plane line passes through the entire object, a full section is formed. As illustrated in the
following image on the left, a full section would be the same as taking an object and cutting it completely
down the middle. Depending on the needs of the designer, one half is kept while the other half is
discarded. The half that is kept is shown with section lines.

The multiview solution to this problem is shown in the following image on the right. The Front view is
drawn with lines projected across to form the Side view. To show that the Side view is in section, a
cutting plane line is added to the Front view. This line performs the physical cut. You have the option of
keeping either half of the object. This is the purpose of adding arrowheads to the cutting plane line. The
arrowheads define the direction of sight in which you view the object to form the section. You must then
interpret what surfaces are being cut by the cutting plane line in order to properly add crosshatching lines
to the section that is located in the Right Side view. Hidden lines are not necessary once a section has
been made.

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Numerous examples illustrate a cutting plane line with the direction of sight off to the left. This does not
mean that a cutting plane line cannot have a direction of sight going to the right, as shown in the
following image. In this example, the section is formed from the Left Side view if the circular features
are located in the Front view.

HALF SECTIONS
When symmetrical-shaped objects are involved, sometimes it is unnecessary to form a full section by
cutting straight through the object. Instead, the cutting plane line passes only halfway through the object,
which makes the pictorial drawing as shown in the following image on the left a half section. The rules
for half sections are the same as for full sections; namely, once a direction of sight is established, part of
the object is kept, and part is discarded.

The views are laid out, as shown in the following image on the right, in the usual multiview format. To
prepare the object as a half section, the cutting plane line passes halfway through the Front view before
being drawn off to the right. Notice that there is only one direction-of-sight arrow and a centerline is used
to depict where the sectioned portion of the object ends in the Right Side view. The Right Side view is
converted to a half section by the crosshatching of the upper half of the Side view while hidden lines
remain in the lower half.

Depending on office practices, some designers prefer to omit hidden lines entirely from the Side view,
similar to the drawing in the following image on the left. In this way, the lower half is drawn showing
only what is visible.
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The illustration in the following image on the right shows another way of drawing the cutting plane line
to conform to the Right Side view drawn in section. Hidden lines have been removed from the lower
half; only those lines visible are displayed. This is consistent with the practice of omitting hidden lines
from section views.

ASSEMBLY SECTIONS
It would be unfair to give designers the impression that section views are used only for displaying
internal features of individual parts. Another advantage of using section views is that they permit the
designer to create numerous objects, assemble them, and then slice the assembly to expose internal
details and relationships of all parts. This type of section is an assembly section similar to the illustration
in the following image on the left. For all individual parts, notice the section lines running in the same
direction. This follows one of the basic rules of section views: keep section lines at the same angle for
each individual part.

The illustration in the following image on the right shows the difference between assembly sections and
individual parts that have been sectioned. For parts in an assembly that contact each other, it is good
practice to alternate the directions of the section lines to make the assembly much clearer and to
distinguish the parts from each other. You can accomplish this by changing the angle of the hatch pattern
or even the scale of the pattern.

To identify parts in an assembly, an identifying part number along with a circle and arrowhead line are
used, as shown in the following image on the left. The line is very similar to a leader line used to call out
notes for specific parts on a drawing. The addition of the circle highlights the part number. Sometimes
this type of callout is referred to as a “bubble.”

In the enlarged assembly shown in the following image on the right, the large area in the middle is
actually a shaft used to support a pulley system. With the cutting plane passing through the assembly
including the shaft, refrain from crosshatching features such as shafts, screws, pins, or other types of
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fasteners. The overall appearance of the assembly is actually enhanced when these items are not
crosshatched.

ALIGNED SECTIONS
Aligned sections take into consideration the angular position of details or features of a drawing. Instead
of the cutting plane line being drawn vertically through the object, as shown in the following image on
the left, the cutting plane is angled or aligned with the same angle as the elements it is slicing. Aligned
sections are also made to produce better clarity of a drawing. As illustrated in the following image on the
left, with the cutting plane forming a full section of the object, it is difficult to obtain the true size of the
angled elements. In the Side view, they appear foreshortened or not to scale. Hidden lines were added as
an attempt to better clarify the view.

Instead of the cutting plane line being drawn all the way through the object, the line is bent at the center
of the object before being drawn through one of the angled legs, as shown in the following image on the
right. The direction of sight arrows on the cutting plane line not only determines the direction in which
the view will be sectioned, but also shows another direction for rotating the angled elements so they line
up with the upper elements. This rotation is usually not more than 90°. As lines are projected across to
form the Side view, the section appears as if it were a full section. This is only because the features were
rotated and projected in section for greater clarity of the drawing. It is interesting to note that the aligned
section is drawn higher than the Front view from which it is drawn. Standard orthographic projection is
usually not applicable to aligned sections.

OFFSET SECTIONS
Offset sections take their name from the offsetting of the cutting plane line to pass through certain
features in a view, as shown in the following image. If the cutting plane line passes straight through any
part of the object, some features would be exposed while others would remain hidden. By offsetting the
cutting plane line, the designer controls its direction and which features of a part it passes through. The
view to section follows the basic section rules. Notice that the changes in direction of the cutting plane as
it passes through the object are shown in the Top view but not in the Front view.

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SECTIONING RIBS
Parts made out of cast iron with webs or ribs used for reinforcement do not follow the basic rules of
sections. As illustrated in the following image on the left, the Front view has the cutting plane line
passing through the entire view; the Side view at “A” is crosshatched according to the basics of section
views. However, it is difficult to read the thickness of the base because the crosshatching includes the
base along with the web. A more efficient method is to leave off crosshatching webs, as in “B.” In this
example, eliminating the crosshatching of the web exposes other important details such as thickness of
bases and walls.

The object shown in the following image on the right is another example of performing a full section on
an area consisting of webbed or ribbed features. If you do not crosshatch the webbed areas, more
information is available, such as the thickness of the base and wall areas around the cylindrical hole.
While this may not be considered true projection, it is good practice.

BROKEN SECTIONS
At times, only a partial section of an area needs to be created. For this reason, a broken section might be
used. The object illustrated in the following image on the left at “A” shows a combination of sectioned
areas and conventional areas outlined by the hidden lines. When converting an area to a broken section,
you create a break line, crosshatch one area, and leave the other area in a conventional drawing. Break
lines may take the form of short freehanded line segments, as shown at “B” in the following image, or a
series of long lines separated by break symbols, as shown at “C” in the following image. You can use the
AutoCAD PLINE command with Ortho off to produce the desired effect, as in “A” and “B.”

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REVOLVED SECTIONS
Section views may be constructed as part of a view with revolved sections. As illustrated in the following
image on the left, the elliptical shape is constructed while it is revolved into position and then
crosshatched. The crosshatched shape represents the cross section shape of the arm.

Illustrated in the following image on the right is another example of a revolved section where a cross
section of the C-clamp was cut away and revolved to display its shape.

REMOVED SECTIONS
Removed sections are very similar to revolved sections except that instead of the section being drawn
somewhere inside the object, as is the case with a revolved section, the section is placed elsewhere or
removed to a new location in the drawing. The cutting plane line is present, with the arrows showing the
direction of sight. Identifying letters are placed on the cutting plane and underneath the section to keep
track of the removed sections, especially when there are a number of them on the same drawing sheet.
See the illustration in the following image on the left.

Another way of displaying removed sections is to use centerlines as a substitute for the cutting plane line.
As illustrated in the following image on the right, the centerlines determine the three shapes of the chisel
and display the basic shapes. Identification numbers are not required in this particular example.

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ISOMETRIC SECTIONS
Section views may be incorporated into pictorial drawings that appear in the following image. The
illustration on the left is an example of a full isometric section with the cutting plane passing through the
entire object. In keeping with basic section rules, only those surfaces sliced by the cutting plane line are
crosshatched. Isometric sections make it easy to view cut edges compared to holes or slots. The
illustration on the right is an example of an isometric drawing converted to a half section.

ARCHITECTURAL SECTIONS
Mechanical representations of machine parts are not the only type of drawings where section views are
used. Architectural drawings rely on sections to show the building materials and construction methods
for the construction of foundation plans, roof details, or wall sections, as shown in the following image.
Here, numerous types of crosshatching symbols are used to call out the different types of building
materials, such as brick veneer at “A,” insulation at “B,” finished flooring at “C,” floor joists at “D,”
concrete block at “E,” earth at “F,” and poured concrete at “G.” Section hatch patterns that are provided
with AutoCAD may be used to crosshatch most building components.

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PROBLEMS FOR CHAPTER 9
PROBLEM 9–1
Center a three-view drawing and make the Front view a full section.

PROBLEM 9–2
Center two views within the work area and make one view a full section. Use correct drafting practices
for the ribs.

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