ME/MF F342:

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

M2-3: Geometric Modeling

of Synthetic Curves:
General Characteristics
BITS Pilani Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hyderabad Campus
Learning OBJECTIVES
 Need for synthetic curves

 Continuity requirements

 Local control and global control of shape of curve

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 What are the synthetic curves in geometric modeling?
• Synthetic curves model the edges of organic or
freeform shaped objects
• Smooth space curves developed for given cloud
points using polynomials basis functions.
P (u )  0 (u ) * P0  1 (u ) * P1  2 (u ) * P2    n (u ) * Pn , umin  u  umax
i (u )  basis function; Pi  control point.
• Some examples of
freeform geometric design are:
– Car bodies
– Ship hulls
– Airplane fuselage and wings
– Propeller blades
– Shoe insoles
– Aesthetically designed bottles
Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus 3
 Need for synthetic curves?
• Need for synethetic curves arises
in two occassions:
P4

– When a curve is represented by a P2

collection of measured data points,
and
– When an existing curve must P3
P1
change to meet new design
requirements – the designer needs
a curve representation that is
directly related to the data points
and is flexible enough to bend, twist P0
or change the shape by changing
one or more data points.

Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus 4
 The approach of “segmentation”:
continuity requirements
• Most often, a complex curve is P4
modeled by several curve segments P2
pieced together end to end.
• This is the approach of
“segmentation” because each time, P3
we are analyzing a “curve segment” P1
rather than the entire curve
• Continuity at the joints of curve
segments decides the degree of
smoothness of the curve P0

• Various continuity requirements –

Co, C1, C2 – can be specified as
indication of degree smoothness
5
 Different continuity requirements

• Zero-order continuity (Co)

yields a position continuous
curve
P4
• First (C1) order continuity
implies slope continuity P2

• Second (C2) order continuity

implies curvature continuity P3
P1
• A C1 curve is minimum
acceptable curve for
engineering design
P0
6
• A cubic polynomial is the minimum-order
polynomial that can guarantee the
generation of all three Co, C1 and C2
continuities. P4
• The cubic order polynomial is the lowest
degree polynomial allowing inflection within P2
a curve segment
• A cubic polynomial is the lowest degree
curve that allows representation of P3
nonplanar (twisted) 3-D curves in space. P1
• Higher order polynomials (>3) are not used
in CAD because of the following
disadvantages:
– They tend to oscillate about the control points P0
– They are computationally expensive and
inconvenient
– They are uneconomical of storing curve and
surface representations in the computer.
The ant is nobody’s relative, neither
customer’s, nor vendor’s nor design
engineer’s!
Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus 7
Control of shape of curve

For efficient design, shape of the curve should P4

be controllable most effectively in the
easiest possible way P2
Type of input data plays a crucial role.
Typically used input data is:
P3
– Control Points, and P1
– Tangent Vectors
Control points and slope information are more
easy to use than curvature information
Two types of control exist: P0
– Local control
– Global control
Local control is more desirable

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Local Control and Global
Control
Global control is said to be
present if change in one
P4
control point or tangent
vector results in change of P2
overall shape of the curve
segment
P3
Local control is said to be P1
present if change in one
control point or tangent
vector results in change of
shape of curve local to that P0

point

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Most commonly used Synthetic Curves
• Hermite Cubic Spline P4
Hermite-3
– Each curve segment is defined for only 2 P2
control points and 2 end tangent vectors
– It passes through the 2 control points and Hermite-2 Hermite-4

therefore it is an interpolant P3
P1
– It has only upto C1 continuity at blend-points;
has only global control Hermite-1

• Bezier Curve P4
– It is an approximating curve; passes through P0
P2
only the first and last control points; does not
pass through the intermediate control points
P1 P3
– It also has only upto C1 continuity at blend-
points; has only global control
– Uses Bernstein polynomial basis functions P0
• B-Spline Curve P4
– Generally approximating; can be selectively P2
made interpolating
– It has upto C2 continuity at blend points
P1 P3
– Uses special B-spline basis functions
– Has local coontrol
P0
 End of the topic
• Any questions?

Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus 11