If you wish to slice a part and get mass properties of the resulting bodies and the section properties along the section plane, here are the steps that would be needed using the Inventor API :
1. Slice the part by creating a "SplitFeature" and using the SplitBody API to retain both the resulting bodies.
2. Create two part documents (either visible or otherwise)
3. Copy the surface bodies created in step-1 to the new part documents.
4. Retrieve the Mass properties from the part documents.
5. To retrieve the section properties, use the bodies created in Step-1 and use the ImprintBodies API to identify the overlapping faces.
6. Get the section property from the overlapping faces using the Face.Evaluator. If you need any further information on the section properties, those can be computed from the Face.EdgeLoops and Face.Edges collection.
Here is a VBA code snippet :
Dim oPartDoc As PartDocument
Set oPartDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Add( _
DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject, _
ThisApplication.FileManager.GetTemplateFile(DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject))
Dim oDef As PartComponentDefinition
Set oDef = oPartDoc.ComponentDefinition
Dim oSketch As PlanarSketch
Set oSketch = oDef.Sketches.Add(oDef.WorkPlanes.Item(3))
Dim oTG As TransientGeometry
Set oTG = ThisApplication.TransientGeometry
Call oSketch.SketchLines.AddAsTwoPointRectangle( _
oTG.CreatePoint2d(0, 0), oTG.CreatePoint2d(6, 3))
Dim oProfile As Profile
Set oProfile = oSketch.Profiles.AddForSolid()
Dim oBaseExtrude As ExtrudeFeature
Set oBaseExtrude = _
oDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.AddByDistanceExtent( _
oProfile, 4, PartFeatureExtentDirectionEnum.kPositiveExtentDirection, _
PartFeatureOperationEnum.kJoinOperation)
Set oSketch = oDef.Sketches.Add(oDef.WorkPlanes.Item(3))
Dim oLine As SketchLine
Set oLine = oSketch.SketchLines.AddByTwoPoints( _
oTG.CreatePoint2d(2, -1), oTG.CreatePoint2d(3, 2))
Set oLine = oSketch.SketchLines.AddByTwoPoints( _
oLine.EndSketchPoint, oTG.CreatePoint2d(2, 4))
Set oProfile = oSketch.Profiles.AddForSurface()
Dim oCutExtrude As ExtrudeFeature
Set oCutExtrude = _
oDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.AddByDistanceExtent( _
oProfile, 5, PartFeatureExtentDirectionEnum.kPositiveExtentDirection, _
PartFeatureOperationEnum.kSurfaceOperation)
Dim oWorkSurface As WorkSurface
Set oWorkSurface = oCutExtrude.SurfaceBody.Parent
Dim oSplit As SplitFeature
Set oSplit = oDef.Features.SplitFeatures.SplitBody( _
oWorkSurface, oDef.SurfaceBodies(1))
Dim oMatrix As Matrix
Set oMatrix = ThisApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateMatrix
oMatrix.SetTranslation _
ThisApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateVector(0, 0, 10)
Dim oPartDoc1 As PartDocument
Set oPartDoc1 = ThisApplication.Documents.Add(kPartDocumentObject, _
ThisApplication.FileManager.GetTemplateFile(kPartDocumentObject), False )
oPartDoc1.FullFileName = "C:\\Temp\\Part1.ipt"
Dim oBody1 As SurfaceBody
Set oBody1 = oDef.SurfaceBodies.Item(1)
Call oPartDoc1.ComponentDefinition.Features.NonParametricBaseFeatures.Add( _
oBody1, oMatrix)
Dim oMassProps1 As MassProperties
Set oMassProps1 = oPartDoc1.ComponentDefinition.MassProperties
oMassProps1.CacheResultsOnCompute = FalseDim M1 AsDouble
M1 = oMassProps1.Mass
Dim Volume1 AsDouble
Volume1 = oMassProps1.Volume
MsgBox "Mass 1 : (kg) " & M1 & vbNewLine & "Volume 1: (cm^3) " _
& Volume1, vbInformation, "Split Body-1"
Dim oPartDoc2 As PartDocument
Set oPartDoc2 = ThisApplication.Documents.Add(kPartDocumentObject, _
ThisApplication.FileManager.GetTemplateFile(kPartDocumentObject), False )
oPartDoc2.FullFileName = "C:\\Temp\\Part2.ipt"
Dim oBody2 As SurfaceBody
Set oBody2 = oDef.SurfaceBodies.Item(2)
Call oPartDoc2.ComponentDefinition.Features.NonParametricBaseFeatures.Add( _
oBody2, oMatrix)
Dim oMassProps2 As MassProperties
Set oMassProps2 = oPartDoc2.ComponentDefinition.MassProperties
oMassProps2.CacheResultsOnCompute = FalseDim M2 AsDouble
M2 = oMassProps2.Mass
Dim Volume2 AsDouble
Volume2 = oMassProps2.Volume
MsgBox "Mass 2 : (kg) " & M2 & vbNewLine & "Volume 2: (cm^3) " _
& Volume2, vbInformation, "Split Body-2"
Dim newBody1 As SurfaceBody
Dim newBody2 As SurfaceBody
Dim body1OverlapFaces As Faces
Dim body2OverlapFaces As Faces
Dim body1OverlapEdges As Edges
Dim body2OverlapEdges As Edges
Call ThisApplication.TransientBRep.ImprintBodies( _
oBody1, oBody2, True , _
newBody1, newBody2, body1OverlapFaces, body2OverlapFaces, _
body1OverlapEdges, body2OverlapEdges)
For i = 1 To body1OverlapFaces.Count
Dim overlapFace1 AsFace
Set overlapFace1 = body1OverlapFaces.Item(i)
MsgBox "Section Area (cm^2) : " & overlapFace1.Evaluator.Area
Next