Surface Intersections for Geometric Modeling

Abstract

Evaluation of planar algebraic curves arises in the context of intersections of algebraic surfaces with piecewise continuous rational polynomial parametric surface patches useful in geometric modeling. We address a method of evaluating these curves of intersection that combines the advantageous features of analytic representation of the governing equation of the algebraic curve in the Bernstein basis within a rectangular domain, adaptive subdivision and polyhedral faceting techniques, and the computation of turning and singular points, to provide the basis for a reliable and efficient solution procedure. Using turning and singular points, the intersection problem can be partitioned into subdomains that can be processed independently and which involve intersection segments that can be traced with faceting methods. This partitioning and the tracing of individual segments is carried out using an adaptive subdivision algorithm for Bezier/B-spline surfaces followed by Newton correction of the approximation. The method has been successfully tested in tracing complex algebraic curves and in solving actual intersection problems with diverse features.