About Part Builder Terminology

Understanding the following key terms will help as you begin using Part Builder.

constraint

Controls the shape of a feature by establishing relationships between features in the model.

degree of freedom

In part modeling, determines how a geometric object, such as a line, arc, or circle, can change shape or size. For example, a circle has two degrees of freedom: center and radius. When these values are fixed, degrees of freedom are said to be eliminated.

dimension

Controls the size of a feature. When changed, the feature is resized. May be expressed as a constant value, a value as part of a table, a calculated value, or a list of values.

domain

Refers to the part category. There are only two domain types by default: pipes and structures. Each domain type has a unique behavior in AutoCAD Civil 3D.

feature

A building block of a pipe network part model. You combine features to create pipe network part models.

model

The part shape representing all possible sizes, and defined by parameters, geometry, dimensions, and geometric constraints.

parametric

A solution method that uses the values of part parameters to dynamically size the part.

part size

A specific set of values applied to the parametric model to define a single size.

work plane

An infinite plane related to one or more features of the model. Work planes provide a defined place in space from which to build the model.