the curved blade, like a scimitar produces a smaller contact point, thus increasing the force at that point as the force is spread over a smaller area. it produces a slicing effect, an automatic draw cut.
think guillotine (a gory example) the initial models had a straight across blade edge, they found it did not produce a clean cut, so the edge of the blade was angled to produce the clean slicing action required.
it's like the french vs. the english in the peninsula wars, the french preferred straight swords for their cavalry, the eglish used the 1796 LC sabre with it's curved edge. the french complained about the horrible injuries it produced compared to theirs.
|