An improved incremental algorithm for constructing restricted Delaunay triangulations

This work presents an algorithm that given a generalized planar graph obtains its Constrained Delaunay triangulation (CDT). The proposed method, which follows the general approach of de Floriani and Puppo (Computer Vision, Graphics cmd Image Processing, 1992, 54, pp. 290-300, [1]), works incrementally based on two improved procedures. The first improvement gives a procedure that inserts a new point in a CDT; the second one is an algorithm that enforces a new constraining edge in a CDT. In particular, an algorithm that generates the CDT of a given polygon (possibly with holes) is also obtained. These algorithms have been implemented and included in several applications, showing their robustness and efficiency, even when the original graph has many vertices or edges. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.