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Surface
Modeling
Surface Modeling
Surface modeling was essentially the situation
in the early 1940s.

The pressures of wartime
production, particularly
in the aircraft industry,
led to changes in the
way the geometry was
represented.
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Surface Modeling
Lidbro [1956] describes a system
used by Saab-Scania in Sweden in
the 1950s, a developed version of
which was still in use on mainframe
computers in the 1980s, based
closely on the approach described.
The use of parametric techniques
became popular in the 1960s,
largely due to the pioneering work
of Coons [1964].
Surface Modeling
Surface modeling defines a
component with greater
mathematical integrity as it
models the surfaces to give more
definitive spatial boundaries to
the design.

It is particularly useful for
modeling objects, which can be
modeled as shells, such as car
body panels, aircraft fuselages
or fan blades.
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Surface Modeling
Their use is widespread in
shipbuilding, automotive
manufacture and the shoe
industry, and they are rapidly
spreading into numerous small and
mediumsized companies
manufacturing forgings, castings.
Surface Modeling
Complex objects such as car or airplane body
can not be achieved utilizing wireframe
modeling.

Surface modeling are used in
calculating mass porperties
checking for interference
between mating parts
generating cross-section views
generating finite elements meshes
generating NC tool paths for
continuous path machining
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Surface Models
Forging, casting, turbine blades,
automobile body sheet metal parts,
aircraft, ship hull
NC machining
Computer-based representation of
curve and surface
Bezier, de Casteljau
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Surface modeling
With surface modeling and the facilities which
exist within a good surface modeling package,
the aesthetic shape and the 3D geometry are
defined in one process and can be altered or
sculpted interactively on the graphics screen.

The basis of a surface is the definition of a
curve in two dimensions in a given plane.
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Surface modeling
As a surface model defines adequate data on a
components surface geometry hidden lines
and surfaces are readily and automatically
removed as required.
This gives rise to non-ambiguous visualization of
the object when viewed from any direction.
The software calculates the amount of light
reflected back to the user from different
areas on the surface and each area is color
filled with varying shades accordingly.
Surface Modeling
The second method is direct
creation of the surface with
manipulation of the surface
poles/control points.
From these initially created
surfaces, other surfaces
are constructed using
either derived methods
such as offset or angled
extensions from surfaces;
or via bridging and blending
between groups of surfaces.
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Surface Modeling Freeform
surfacing
used in CAD and other computer graphics
software to describe the skin of a 3D
geometric element.
do not have rigid radial dimensions, unlike
regular surfaces such as planes, cylinders
and conic surfaces.
widely used in all engineering design disciplines
from consumer goods products to ships.
Most systems today use nonuniform rational B-spline
(NURBS) mathematics to describe the surface forms;
There are other methods such as Gorden surfaces or
Coon surfaces .
Advantages of Solid and
Surface Modelling
Solid Modelling Surface Modelling
Easy to learn/use
More flexible in modelling
complex geometry
Parametric/associative
capabilities
Interactive modelling
capabilities
Quicker creation and updating
of assemblies
Quicker creation and updating
of complex components and
tooling
Excellent for creating
functional models
Excellent for creating
aesthetic or ergonomic free-
form models
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Parametric surfaces
Surface patches
p (u,v)
Boundary curves
Iso-parametric curves
Continuity between surface patches
surface patch and its boundaries
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Mathematical Representation of
Surface
Major Surface Entities
Plane surface :
simplest surface

Ruled (lofted) surface :
linear surface

Rail (boundary curve)
Rail (boundary curve)
Mathematical Representation of
Surface
Major Surface Entities
Surface of revolution :
Axissymmetric surface

Tabulated cylinder:
Translation along a
Specified direction

Axis of
rotation
Planar curve
Curve Curve
Direction
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Mathematical Representation of
Surface
Major Surface Entities
Bezier Surface :
approximation

B-spline surface:
Approximation or
interpolation

Mathematical Representation of
Surface
Major Surface Entities
Coons patch :
Surface using curves
From clossed boundaries

Fillet surface:
B-spline surface blends
two surfaces

Patch Patch
Closed
boundary
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Mathematical Representation of
Surface
Major Surface Entities
Offset surface :
Create new ones identical
in shape but may have
different dimensions


Creating Surfaces
Complex shape generation facilitated through
various methods. These methods permit
complex surface generation through the use
of defining parent geometry.

Parent geometry may be curves, vectors or
specification data
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Associativity
A dependency that exists between model
entities child entities are dependent upon
their respective parent geometry
For surface construction:
Parent geometry required for surface
creation
Surface cannot exist without parent
geometry (cannot be deleted if associative)
Surface definition
Ability to query database for surface
information means:
possible to determine if a point lies off, on
or on the boundary of a surface
often referred to as a membership test
data may be used for functions such as
rendering, manufacturing, surface area
determination
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Surface Modeling
Models 2D surfaces in 3D space
All points on surface are defined
useful for machining, visualization, etc.
Surfaces have no
thickness, objects
have no volume or
solid properties
Surfaces may be
open
Surface Modeling
Surface models define
the surface
features, as well as
the edges, of
objects.
Different types of
spline curves are
used to create
surface patches with
different modeling
characteristics.
Bezier
surface
B-Spline surface
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Surface Modeling
Creating parts from surfaces is a multi-step
process:
First, the wire frame curves are created and
manipulated.
Next, these curves are used to define
surfaces and/or solid parts.
One more step is necessary if you want to
generate a solid part from the resulting open
surface.
This might be a shelling operation to give the
surface thickness, or stitching multiple
surfaces together to form a closed solid.
Line (Combinations of Points)
if 0 t 1 then P is somewhere on the line segment joining P
1
and P
2
.

We may utilize the following notation
P = P(t) = (1 - t) P
1
+ t P
2

We can then define a combination of
two points P
1
and P
2
to be
P =
1
P
1
+
2
P
2

1
+
2
= 1 where
derive the transformation by setting
2
= t
Let P
1
and P
2
be points in space.
P
1
P
2
P
1
+ t (P
2
- P
1
)
t (P
2
- P
1
)
P

2
= t

1
= 1- t

1
0
P
1
P
2
Linear interpolation
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Linear Surface
We can generalize the line to define a combination of an arbitrary
number of points.
P
2
P
1

3
(P
3
- P
1
)
P
3
P

2
(P
2
- P
1
)
P =
1
P
1
+
2
P
2
+
3
P
3

1
+
2
+
3
= 1
where
Illustration shows the point P generated when
1
=
2
= 1/4
0
1
,
2
,
3
1

3
= 1/2
Surface Modeling
Extension of curve modelling
Parametric representation:
p = p(u,v)
which is equivalent to
x = x(u,v)
y = y(u,v)
z = z(u,v)
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Surface Patch
Tool Path
A B , C , ( )
p
00
p
11
p
01
p
10
v
u
D
1
D
0
C
1
C
0
Isoparametric
curves
Isoparametric curves can
be used for tool path
generation.
Linearly Blended Coons Patch
Surface is defined by linearly interpolating between the boundary
curves
Simple, but doesnt allow adjacent patches to be joined smoothly P
1
E
0
( )
E
1
( )
, E
2
( )
,
( )
X2 Y2 , Z2 , ( ) ,
P1 u v , ( ) 1 u ( ) T v ( ) u R v ( ) + :=
P2 u v , ( ) 1 v ( ) Q u ( ) v S u ( ) + :=
P3 u v , ( ) 1 v ( ) 1 u ( ) T 0 ( ) u R 0 ( ) + [ ] v 1 u ( ) T 1 ( ) u R 1 ( ) + [ ] + :=
P u v , ( ) P1 u v , ( ) P2 u v , ( ) + P3 u v , ( ) :=
.
+ -
=
E
0
( )
E
1
( )
, E
2
( )
,
( )
X1 Y1 , Z1 , ( ) , E
0
( )
E
1
( )
, E
2
( )
,
( )
X3 Y3 , Z3 , ( ) , E
0
( )
E
1
( )
, E
2
( )
,
( )
P
1
(u,v) P
2
(u,v)
P
3
(u,v) P(u,v)
T(v)
R(v)
Q(u)
S(u)
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Bicubic Patch
Extension of cubic curve
16 unknown coefficients
16 boundary conditions
Tangents and twists at
corners of patch can be
used
Like Lagrange and
Hermite curves,
difficult to work with

= =
=
3
0
3
0
,
) , (
i j
j i
j i
v u v u k P
Bi-cubic surfaces
Coons bi-cubic surface
48 coefficients = 16 * 3
Geometric boundary conditions: 4
corner points, 8 tangent vectors, 4
twist vectors
(2.25) boundary condition matrix + same
blending function as for curves
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Bezier surfaces
Control polyhedron
Tensor product surface
p (u,v) = S S P
ij
B
i,m
(u) B
j,n
(v)
As with Bezier curves, local changes are
not possible
Convex hull property is useful in ray
tracing and intersection calculations
Bezier patch with 5 x 4 array of points
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Closed Bezier patch
Bezier Surfaces
Bezier curves can be extended to
surfaces
Same problems as for Bezier curves:
no local modification possible
smooth transition between adjacent
patches difficult to achieve
C
n i ,
n!
i! n i !
:= B u i , ( ) C
n i ,
u
i
1 u ( )
n i
:=
P u v , r , ( )
0
m
i 0
n
j
p
i j ,
( )
r
B u i , ( ) B v j , ( )

=
:=
x y , z , ( )
X Y , Z , ( ) x y , z , ( ) ,
Isoparametric curves
used for tool path
generation.
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B-spline surfaces
Rational parametric surfaces
Sphere, cylinders, cones
Interpolated B-spline surface patch
B-Spline Surfaces
As with curves, B-spline surfaces are a generalization of Bezier
surfaces
The surface approximates a control polygon
Open and closed surfaces can be represented
N
i k ,
u ( ) u u
i

( )
N
i k 1 ,
u
i k + 1
u
i

u
i k +
u
( )
N
i 1 + k 1 ,
u
i k +
u
i 1 +

+ .
P u v , ( )
0
n
i 0
m
j
P
ij
N
i k ,
u ( ) N
j l ,
v ( )

=
0 u s u
max
s
0 v s v
max
s
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Surfaces from Curves
Tabulated cylinder
(extrusion)
Ruled surface (lofting
or spined)
Surface of revolution
Swept surface
Sculptured surface
Tabulated Cylinder
Project curve along a vector

In SolidWorks, created by extrusion
Generating
curve C
P(u,v) = C(u)+ V(v)

v
u
V(v)
C(u)
Vector V
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Tabulated cylinder
Defined by
projecting a shape
curve (or profile)
along a direction
vector.
Curvature in one
direction only (along
shape curve), linear
in other direction.
Shape curve
(in bold)
vector
Ruled surfaces
Join 2 parametric curves by straight
lines
Direction of parameterization
Generalized cylinder
Bending by roller
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Ruled surface
Ruled Surface
Linear interpolation between two edge
curves

Created by lofting through cross
sections
u
v
C1(u)
C2(u)
P(u,v) = (1-v) C1(u)+ v (C2(u)

Edge curve 2
Edge curve 1
Linear
interpolation
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Ruled surface
Linear interpolation between
two bounding geometric
elements (curves).
Elemental division the same
for each curve.
Bounding curves must both
be either geometrically
open (line, arc) or closed
(circle, ellipse).
Curvature in one direction
only.
Both geometries open
(line & arc)
Both geometries closed (circle &
point *)
Mathematic Definition of
Surface of Revolution
Any point on surface is a function of two
parameters, t and u.
T describes the shape to be rotated
u represents the angle of rotation
Z
Y
X
t
u
Z
Y
X
t
u
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Surface of Revolution
Revolve curve
about an axis
Axis
Curve
u
v
C1(u)
P(u,v) = C1(u)+ v (C2(u) C1(u))
C2(u)
u
Surface of revolution
Surface of revolution requires:
a shape curve (must be continuous)
a specified angle
an axis defined in 3D modelspace.
Positive rotation direction usually based
upon direction of axis vector.
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Swept Surface
Defining curve swept
along an arbitrary spine
curve
u
v
C1(u) Defining
curve
C2(v)
P(u,v) = C1(u)+ C2(v)
Spine
General sweep
Shape curve (or profile) is swept
along a path defined by an
arbitrary curve.
Compare with:
Tabulated (path a vector)
Surface of revolution (path a
single curve)
Shape curve and path for General
Sweep.
Resultant surface
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Lofted Surface
Defining curve swept
along an arbitrary
spine curve
Surface Pipe
Defining
curves
Spine