Code development for the implementation of the Part Conditional Scale Feature in 3D CAD software platforms

Abstract

Most contemporary 3D CAD software has implemented the Scale feature as a plain multiplication or division of an object’s standard dimensions. A variety of options exists; sometimes the Scale process can be applied to an origin or a user-defined coordinate system, or it can be applied to one or two axes. No software so far has offered the option of setting the rules as to how the Scale feature can be applied to one or more components of an object. This article is about the development of a code that adds this functionality to a popular 3D CAD software. As a first step, the code is only applied to holes that lie on a planar face.