Get the Fantastic Three-edge Faces in ZW3D

For designers, three-edge face and four-edge face are widely used in their daily work. In order to ensure its perfection, it is essential to check it again and again.

Three-edge face consists of three edges that touch one another. The surface quality usually not up to par, because they will all converged at one point on the UV line and offset one another. Due to that, the 'shell' command will fail to operate normally.

Four-edge face consists of four edges that touch one another, and can be created using the two lines in the U and V directions. With the U/V mesh technology, the quality of this kind of surface is better than that of the three-edge surface.

This article will give an example illustration on how a three-edge face can be converted into a Four-sided face. We start by creating a basic curve mesh.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/FacesCurves.jpg" border="0">

If we use 'N-sided patch' command to create the surfaces, the surfaces can only achieve G1 continuous.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/PatchOptional.jpg" border="0">

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/ThreeEdgeFaceG1.jpg" border="0">

Below we use the four edge face to create the surfaces.

First: Use 'Iso curve' on 'face' command to get the U lines of F1/F2 faces.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/FacesCurves.jpg" border="0">

Second: Use 'blend curve' command to connect the two curves (Note: Curvature continuous).

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/BendCurve.jpg" border="0">

Third: Use 'Mesh face' command to create the surfaces, keep every edge with G2 continuous.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/MeshFaceG2-1.jpg" border="0">

Fourth: Use 'Trim to faces' to trim the surfaces.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/TrimFace.jpeg" border="0">

Fifth: Use 'Mesh face' command to create the surfaces, keep every edge G2 continuous.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/MeshFaceG2-2.jpg" border="0">

Let's Analyze it again, the surfaces have achieved G2 continuous.

<img src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/uploadfile/images/FourEdgeFaceG2.jpg" border="0">

Conclusion: In order to obtain a good quality of a surface in handling Three-edge faces , we need to first create an auxiliary surface, next use cutting or extensions, then convert four-edge faces to achieve expected surface.

<b>About ZW3D</b> ZW3D, The <i>All-in-one CAD/CAM</i>, was included into ZWSOFT's product portfolio in 2010. As the successor of VX CAD/CAM, ZW3D provides ease-of-use, performance, and all-in-one capability. The brand new software can extend enterprise-level mechanical design and engineering capabilities to the desktop at a fraction of the cost of other comparable systems. Experience ZW3D 2010, where the only limit is your imagination. Please go to http://zw3d.zwcad.org/ to download a free 30-day trial today.

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