Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations The Obturator on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Radius vs. Diameter 1

Status
Not open for further replies.

macduff

Mechanical
Dec 7, 2003
1,255
When dimensioning a circle, is there way to make the default to a diameter instead of a radius? I looked at the Tools/Options/Doc Prop/Dimension and found nothing.

Thanks,

Macduff [spin]
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Senior Designer/Checker
Dell Precision 370
SW2005 Pro SP 1.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

Oops!
I found a thread on this but it wasn't really answered.

thread559-117578


Macduff [spin]
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Senior Designer/Checker
Dell Precision 370
SW2005 Pro SP 1.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 
Do you mean in a feature sketch when using the Circle property manager or when using an actual dimension?

The property manager is fixed on the radius, but I never use it as it does not define the circle. My system (SW2004) defaults to diameter when using actual dimensions ... providing it is a full circle. If it is only an arc then the default is a radius.

[cheers]
Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520
 
Hi macduff,
Are you dim to a full circle or an arc? If the circle is cut in any way, it will dim as radius.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP1.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
 
I ran into a similar problem. I was drilling an 11/16" dia hole in a 1" hollow square tube. the hole encroached on the rounded corners of the tube, making the edge of the hole no longer a simple circle. when I was dimensioning it, I was not able to get it to dimension the diameter. Only the radius. I had to type the diameter in the dim manually......
 
MMike1 said:
I had to type the diameter in the dim manually......

You could have just gone to the dimension properties and toggled it to be a diameter dimension.
 
when it no longer became a simple circle, it became an arc. It will dim as a radius.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP1.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
 
By default a circle will give a diameter & a partial circle will give a radius, but you can change the type of dimension in the Properties section when RMB clicking the dimension. Both a full circle & a partial circle dimension can be shown as a diameter or radius.

[cheers]
Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520
 
All,
The circle is in drawing mode view,and it is not broken. It is a complete circle.

Macduff [spin]
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Senior Designer/Checker
Dell Precision 370
SW2005 Pro SP 1.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 
Well, if you are still getting a radius dimension as the default, you should report it to your VAR as a possible glitch.

[cheers]
Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor