www.kxcad.net Home > CAM Index > EdgeCAM Index >
B-Spline surfaces are often used for automotive panels and any smooth surface reconstructed from large point arrays. In practise, both types of surfaces are usually imported.
A B-Spline surface is generated from a number of control points. As with B-Spline curves, the surface does not generally pass through any control points. However, it does intersect the corner control points.
B-Spline surfaces tend to flatten and smooth the contour of the points. The flatness and smoothness is controlled by the “degree” of the mathematical formulae used to calculate the surface. The higher this degree is, the more flat and smooth the curve and the closer the surface to that produced through the same control points by a Bezier surface. Also, the longer EdgeCAM takes to process the calculations.
The following diagram shows a B-Spline surface generated with a U and V degree of 2, and then regenerated using the same control points but a degree of 9:
B-Spline surfaces are produced with the B-Spline (Surface menu) command.
The properties of a B Spline surface can be altered using the Entity Data (Edit menu) command.