A Plane is essentially an unbounded flat surface represented  by a simple four-parameter plane equation. A plane is represented by a small three-sided polygon. While this may appear as a small, bounded surface, it actually extends out in all directions infinitely.

Plane entities offer a simple way to represent a flat surface of a part or a coordinate datum plane. They also make light work of some difficult situations that can arise in complex 3D wireframing.

A four parameter plane equation is similar to a vector definition in that the first three parameters are the I, J, and K coefficients of a vector that points exactly perpendicular to the plane itself. The fourth parameter is the distance from the origin of the coordinate system to the plane as measured along the specified vector.

NOTE: Both associative and non-associative planes can be created (see menu options). Associative planes (which are tied to the entities used to define them) are displayed with small triangular markers at their corners. This visually differentiates them from non-associative planes.

Example:

A plane that is parallel to the XY plane but 10 units away from the origin would have a plane equation of 0,0,1,10. That is the first vector coeffi cient is 0.0 (0 in X) the second vector coefficient is 0.0 (0 in Y), and the third vector coefficient is 1.0 (1 in Z). The distance from the coordinate system zero is 10.0 units measured along that vector to the plane.

Planes can be created with a variety of methods. The display location of the polygon can be moved, without affecting the plane's equation, using the Move Plane Symbol feature. Planes can be used to create vectors (Create Vector Perpendicular to Plane) or intersected with other planes (Create Intersection Vector from Two Planes). The plane creation features are available from the Create>Plane pull-down and Advanced Modeling>Create>Plane palette submenus.

To view information on a feature available from the Create>Plane submenu, click the appropriate link below:

Key-In

Plane by Menu

Entities

Three Positions

Entity/Position

Normal to Curve

Normal to Vector

Assoc. Entities

Assoc. Three Positions

Assoc. Entity/Position