Surf and Code: The Birail Magic of BlueSurfs

The BlueSurf

Per Solid Edge help, a BlueSurf Constructs a surface using existing sketches or part edges.
Further, at a minimum, you must define two cross sections or one cross section and one guide curve.
And no need to go any further. The minimum conditions for the BlueSurf spell magic.

Full index of Solid Edge surfacing tutorials on this blog is here.

The Birail Magic

The BlueSurf is an awesome tool by itself.
Let it roll along a birail and it will workout wonder surfaces.

What is a Birail ?

A BlueSurf creates a surface using cross-sections and guide-curves.
The cross-sections and the guide-curves can be open or closed profiles.
When cross-sections travel along two guide-curves, the guide-curves are called birails.
The cross-sections and guide-curves must be well connected and this is the basic condition for a BlueSurf.
This method allows you to create complex organic surfaces using just two rail curves (birails) and two profile curves.

Under The Hood The curves for the BlueSurf in step 1 are shown in figure besides. The cross-sections (red color) are open. see figure. They can be closed too. On the other hand, the guide-curves (birails) are always open profiles. Also, the birails can be non-straight curves which they normally are, and you will see this in the examples to follow.
A Squeeze Bottle Keeping in mind that you are to use only two cross-sections and two guide-curves (birails), lets see what all objects can be created. Look at the bottle shown in figure.
The First Cross Section The first cross-section is a circle. Note how the cross-section is connected to the birails.
The Second Cross Section The second cross-section is an ellipse. Also, the shape of the birails can be seen towards both the ends. Using these four curves, you can have a bottle in place. To read an in-depth tutorial on how to create this bottle, Click Here.
Hairdryer Handle Take another example of a hair-dryer handle. See figure.
Hairdryer Handle - Under The Hood The cross-section and the birails are as shown in figure. And a heavily illustrated tutorial on how to create the complete hair-dryer with the handle and more... Click Here.
Door-Knob By now you must have got a fair idea of how birails look and work. And if you have started getting a feeling that the birails are pretty straight, then think again. Have a look at the door knob shown in figure. Try to figure out what could be the cross-sections and the birails.
Door-Knob - Under the Hood The red circle on the left and the small ellipse on the right end are the cross-sections. The other two white curves (bent like hell) are the birails. Keep admiring the complexity or the organicity of the surface formed.
The Birail Magic So the next time you have a complex organic surface to construct, do not panic. Visualize the surface as two cross-sections and let them roll along the magical birails...
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