Component:Advanced Blending
From DocR21
The Advanced Blending Component (ABL), performs blends that are more complex than found in the standard ACIS Blending Component (BLND).
The sharp edges and vertices in models must often be replaced by faces in order to improve the appearance of a part, reduce stress points, or assist manufacture. This operation is called blending. For example, a woodworker may use a router to physically round the sharp edges of a table. This is analogous to blending edges in an ACIS model.
Some standard blending functionality is embedded in ACIS (in the Blending Component). You must be familiar with the standard blending functionality before working with the Advanced Blending Component (ABL). Refer to Blending Topics for discussions of the standard blending concepts and terminology which are the foundation for the advanced blending discussions in this section.
Note: This guide assumes that you are familiar with ACIS standard blending.
ABL uses intuitive blend processing instruction sequencing to simplify the automatic transition between blend types, variable radius specifications, and other parameters. Differences between standard blending and advanced blending are highlighted wherever appropriate.
Types of Advanced Blending operations
Advanced Blending operations can be classified into three categories that extend those found in standard Blending, namely:
- The entities involved in blending
- The radius/offset specifications given
- Continuity of blends
Entities
| Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| Edge Blending | The entities to be blended are an edge or sequences of edges. |
| Entity – Entity Blending | Blend between two sets of faces. Blend between an edge and a face. Blend between two edges. |
| Three Entity Blending | The entities to be blended are three faces. |
Radius/Offset Specifications
| Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| Variable Radius | Radius varies within a blend sequence.
|
Continuity
| Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| Advanced Chamfer ( G0 continuity) | Offsets represent distance by which the supports are offseted. |
| Curvature Continuous Blend ( G2 continuity) | Blends are G2 continuous with the support faces. |
Other Operations
- Main article: Blending
The Blending Component provides a set of standard blending functionality.
General Topics
- Blending Comparison - A summary table comparing standard Blending with Advanced blending.
- Blending Topics - Standard Blending topics.
- Spring Curve Design - Blends that follow particular spring curves
Journaling
- Main article: Journaling
Journaling is available for Advanced Blending through the standard ACIS options journaling mechanism.
Versioning
- Main article: Versioning
Versioning is available for Advanced Blending through the standard ACIS options versioning mechanism.
Functional Classification
In most cases Advanced Blending operations follow a particular pattern:
- Collect and Search entities that need processing - To get a list of all edges that smoothly connect to a given edge api_smooth_edge_seq can be used.
- Attach Blending Attributes - To achieve particular characteristic of a blend, blending attributes need to be attached. For example, to get a constant radius round blend, api_set_ee_cr_blend can be used.
- Apply Blending Attributes - Apply blend by fixing the attached blend attributes. For example, to apply a particular blend attribute, api_fix_blends can be used.
- Attach and Apply Blending Attributes - Some APIs attach and apply blend attribute as a single operation. For example, to attach a chamfer and apply it api_abh_chamfer_edges can be used.
Options
Important: For historical reasons, there are some global options that also affect the behavior of Advanced Blending operations. Refer to Blending global options.
Error Codes
- Main article: Blending Error Codes
Upon failure of an Boolean API, error codes will be returned that explain the failure and suggest possible actions for correction.
