Skip to main content

Radius

radius sizes an arc — a rounded corner, a fillet in the profile, a cam lobe. It is the dimension that completes a tangent arc. On an ellipse it sizes one semi-axis at a time.

In the viewport​

  1. Click one arc — or one ellipse.
  2. Click Dimension. A leader from the center to the rim appears with an R prefix; type the value and press Enter. On an ellipse the leader runs along the axis you clicked nearest to, with an RX or RY prefix.

Double-clicking an arc opens its radius directly.

The constraint bar with one arc picked and the Dimension button highlighted
One arc picked: Dimension writes a radius.
BeforeBefore mode

The corner arc is drawn with a radius of about 12.

AfterAfter moderadius(corner, 25)

The round grows to R25; the tangents keep it attached to both edges.

The code behind it

Two coincident statements attach the arc to its neighbours and two tangent statements remove the kinks; radius(corner, 25) is the one number left to choose (1 DOF).

corner.part.js
import { sketch, line, arc } from 'fluidcad/core';
import { radius, coincident, tangent, horizontal, vertical, fix, distance } from "fluidcad/constraints";

sketch("xy", () => {
// The rounded corner of a plate. Arcs are dimensioned by radius —
// the number a drawing carries for a corner round.
const bottom = line([0, 0], [60, 0]);
const corner = arc([60, 0], [72, 12], [60, 12]);
const side = line([72, 12], [72, 60]);
coincident(bottom.end(), corner.start());
coincident(corner.end(), side.start());
tangent(bottom, corner);
tangent(corner, side);
horizontal(bottom);
vertical(side);
fix(bottom.start());
distance(bottom.start(), bottom.end(), 60);
distance(side.start(), side.end(), 40);
radius(corner, 25);
})

Circles are normally dimensioned by diameter, arcs by radius — matching how each is annotated on a drawing:

Radius and diameter dimensions

The code behind it
radial.part.js
import { sketch, circle, arc } from 'fluidcad/core';
import { fix, radius, diameter } from "fluidcad/constraints";

sketch("xy", () => {
const bore = circle([0, 0], 60);
const rim = arc([80, -30], [80, 30], [60, 0]);
fix(bore.center());
fix(rim.center());
diameter(bore, 60);
radius(rim, 36);
})

In code​

radius(a, 25) // 1 DOF
radius(c, 30) // a circle can take a radius too
radius(e, 50, 'x') // an ellipse's RX semi-radius
radius(e, 30, 'y') // … and its RY semi-radius

The axis argument names which semi-radius of an ellipse the dimension sets; it is required there and not accepted on arcs or circles.

See also​