Tools
InfoCurvature
The Curvature command enables you to display the curvature plot of a selected curve.
The Scale and the Density of the plot can also be defined and the curvature plot can be changed into the one of the Radius of curvature by selecting the corresponding check box. If the Scale check box is not selected, the scale of the plot is computed automatically so as to fit the current view. On the contrary, if the check box is selected, the specified scale factor is applied.
You can project the curvature plot onto the view plane or onto another plane of your choice. If you select the Project check box, the Onto drop-down list will be displayed. The available choices are the following:
| View | The curvature plot will be created on the view plane. Please note that whenever you change the view orientation, the curvature plot will be updated accordingly. |
| Plane | The curvature plot will be created on a plane to be selected. The Reference Plane drop-down list enables you to select the definition method. |
A Reverse check box is also available, enabling you to interactively change the orientation of the radius of curvature, thus reverting the curvature plot, so that you can get a better visualization in case you should obtain auto-intersections.
The Base surface curvature check box enables you to get information about the base surface when a curve of the Curve on Surface type is selected.
The Curvature command can be used whenever another command is active, without interrupting it. Therefore, it is a useful tool when you need to check the quality of your curves while you are creating or modifying them.
It is possible to retain geometric information obtained after running the command. You can make use of the Insert Geometric Data option for this command. When a curvature plot is created with the command, you can retain the focal curves from the plot. Focal curves are the curves delimiting the curvature plot. To retain the geometric data, simply check the Insert Geometric Data check box from the options menu.
Note that the Insert Geometric Data option is available only when a fixed scale factor is applied to the plots. To apply a scale factor, select the Scale check box and enter a scale factor, from the selection list. The resulting focal curves can be reused and modified like any other curve in the think3 application.
If the command is used when another command is active, the curvature display will be applied to the current curves in the preview of the active command. Additional curves can also be selected.
To create the graph of the curvature of a plane curve (or of the projection of a skew curve onto a plane) as a function of the u parameter, use the Tools
Info
Analysis
Curve Curvature Diagram command.