When I learnt technical drawing in the old (paper, pencil, drawing board) days, a scrap section is a partial cross sectional view. In other words it is a cross section showing only the important/relevant detail.
As another old timer brought up on the boards I would agree with gaufridus, a scrap section was a section that showed relevant information but not through any specific plane or set of planes.
It now seems redundant with the way things have moved in 3D modelling, it is now easier to cut sections through a model rather than stick a load of meaningless and non updateable lines on a piece of paper.
On the walls of my office are several hand drawn prints dating back to '89. Each show the P&ID of several 2000L vessels. In the corner of each drawing is a section view titled "scrap elevation". These views show the plumbing layout directly behind the vessels, something a normal elevation or plan view couldn't show that well.
I humbly retract my comment about needing context to get a meaningful answer. Apparently what is needed isn't detail but relevant experience. Based on scastillo's response it seems that I entered this field just as "scrap sections" were going the way of the dodo, which makes sense considering the fact that 3D CAD was just starting to be a course offering as I was graduating.
Next time I chime in I'll try to know what I'm talking about, but I make no guarantees......
There's pretty much not a day that goes by where I don't learn something by reading these forums.
I was thinking the same thing you were. My first thought was in line with 0707. E.G. A scrap section is the part of a sheet of material that is not used. This is important to us because we cut round steel saw bodies out of rectangular sheets of expensive steel.
