Spline approximations of real algebraic surfaces

We use a combination of both symbolic and numerical techniques to construct several degree bounded G(0) and G(1) continuous, piecewise spline approximations of real implicit algebraic surfaces for both computer graphics and geometric modeling. These approximations are based upon an adaptive triangulation (a G(0) planar approximation) of the real components of the algebraic surface, and include both singular points and singular curves on the surface. A curvilinear wireframe is also constructed using minimum bending energy, parametric curves with additionally normals varying along them. The spline approximations over the triangulation or curvilinear wireframe could be one of several forms: either low degree, implicit algebraic splines (triangular A-patches) or multivariate functional B-splines (B-patches) or standardized rational Bernstein-Bezier patches (RBB), or triangular rational B-Splines. The adaptive triangulation is additionally useful for a rapid display and animation of the implicit surface. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.