To Make a Spline Tangent to a Reference
Using Tangent, you can make a spline tangent to a curve, an edge, an axis, or a surface without having to create additional geometry.
1. Click Tangency on the SPLINEPNTS menu. The TAN SPL menu appears with the following:
◦ Select Spline—Selects the spline that you want to modify.
◦ Start—Defines the tangency at the start of the spline. The start vertex highlights.
◦ End—Defines the tangency at the end of the spline. The end vertex highlights.
◦ Crv/Edge/Axis—Selects a curve, edge, or axis to specify tangency direction at the startpoint or endpoint.
◦ Create Axis—Creates an axis to specify tangency direction at the startpoint or endpoint, using the DATUM AXIS menu (for more information, see Datum Axes in the chapter Datums in the Part Modeling User’s Guide.)
◦ Tan Surf—Selects a surface on which the startpoint or endpoint of the spline is to lie and to which the spline is to be tangent. The spline pivots to follow its natural direction while remaining tangent to the surface.
◦ Srf Nrm Edge—Makes the spline tangent to a selected surface and normal to one of the surface boundaries.
◦ Clear—Removes the current tangency constraint at the selected end. To have no tangency constraint at either end, click Clear for both ends.
2. Using Select Spline, pick the spline that you want to make tangent.
3. Click Start or End to specify the end that you initially want to control.
4. Click Crv/Edge/Axis, Create Axis, Tan Surf, or Srf Nrm Edge to specify the kind of tangency that you want at the selected end of the spline.
5. Pick the reference entity. An arrow appears at the selected end of the spline to indicate the direction of the tangent curve.
6. Click Flip or Okay on the DIRECTION menu to reverse or accept the direction. If necessary, specify the tangency at the other end of the spline.
7. Click Done on the TAN SPL menu. The spline displays in its modified form.