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A datum is the perfect reference a measurement is taken from: a plane, an axis, or a midplane. In ASME Y14.5 a datum is not the scanned surface. It is the counterpart that surface is allowed to touch. Voyager builds that counterpart from one or more features in a feature set, or from faces on imported CAD. Datums live under the feature set in the Dimensioning tree, in the Datums group. A Frame ranks those datums — primary, then secondary, then tertiary — into the datum reference frame that Profile, Position, Perpendicularity, Parallelism, and Angularity measure in. Runout turns the part about a datum axis from that frame.
Datum defined from a detected feature

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Datum types

  • Plane — one or more plane features. Several faces can belong to one plane datum. Hold the modifier key the panel names to add another face.
  • Axis — one cylinder. The datum is the axis of that cylinder.
  • Midplane — the plane halfway between two plane features.
CAD faces are picked the same way as scan faces, once the CAD has finished processing. See Nominal CAD Import.

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How a plane datum sits on the part

A new plane datum uses a tangent fit. The datum plane rests on the high points of the surface. That is the contacting simulator ASME Y14.5 and ISO 5459 describe, and it is the default for every new plane datum. A plane datum can also be:
  • GG — least squares, the average of the surface
  • GC — the minimum zone, the middle of the narrowest pair of parallel planes that contain the surface
An axis datum can be least squares, minimum zone, or a mating size (the smallest cylinder around the pin, or the largest cylinder inside the hole). A midplane uses least squares or a mating size. The tangent fit is planes only.

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Defining a datum

1

Select Datum

Choose Datum from the Toolbar in Dimensioning Mode, or right-click a feature and choose the datum action for its kind.
2

Choose where it is built

Select the feature set, or a CAD model that has finished processing.
3

Choose the type and the features

Pick Plane, Axis, or Midplane, then click the feature or features. Eligible features highlight on hover.
4

Set properties and submit

Properties unlock once the features are picked. Assign a label such as A, B, or C. The label is stored in capitals. Tolerance is optional and uses the same + / − group as every other check. See How every check works. Submit to add the datum to the feature set.
Datum defined on an imported STEP file

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What a selected datum shows

Selecting a datum draws the simulated datum: the ideal plane, center plane, or axis that datum sets up, not only its highlighted faces. Click a selected datum, Frame, measurement, or GD&T control a second time to deselect it. A Display section in the datum and Frame panels has three switches:
  • Simulated datum draws the ideal plane, center plane, or axis.
  • Datum features highlights the faces the datum was built from.
  • Deviation from simulated datum colors those faces from green to red by how far they sit from the ideal.

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Frames

A Frame is the ordered datum reference frame. Rank the datums that locate the part: primary, then secondary, then tertiary. The primary orients the part. The secondary stops rotation about that orientation, or one translation. The tertiary stops the last translation the first two left free. You do not have to fill every rank. Position and Profile require a primary and treat the other two as optional. Perpendicularity and Parallelism require a primary and allow a secondary only when it clocks the zone. Angularity uses the same orientation pattern, at the drawing’s angle. Choose Frame from the Toolbar. Select the feature set or the CAD model the Frame belongs to, then pick a datum for each rank or click its callout. Clear rank empties one rank. If a Frame with the same datums already exists, the panel names it instead of creating a duplicate. Selecting a Frame draws it in the 3D view as X, Y, and Z axes at its position. Each datum in the Frame is drawn in its rank color, with its letter. Build the Frame once. With the scan aligned to the CAD, Copy to CAD or Copy to scan creates the counterpart, and Link pairs the two. Profile and Position then measure in the pair. Projects in one Workspace that use the same CAD model share that model’s CAD datums and Frames. Set the scheme up once per part. A Project copied or moved to another Workspace gets its own copy of the CAD, and its own copy of those datums and Frames. You cannot delete a CAD model or a CAD datum that more than one Project is using.

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Leaders

Each datum draws a leader and a labeled flag. Use the callout controls to move the leader. The datum value does not change. Clean placement matters once several datums and GD&T checks share the view, including in Reporting Mode.