Almost rotation-minimizing rational parametrization of canal surfaces

Almost rotation minimizing parametrization of the canal surface is given. The basic building block of our approach is the curve approximation scheme that enables us to construct a curve, called the parameter curve, on the canal surface that produces, when projected and rescaled, an almost parallel normal vector field on the spine curve. Its construction relies on our earlier methods and results on relating the geometry of the canal surface to the Lorentzian geometry of the Minkowski geometry via the Clifford algebra formalism. We then iteratively construct patches out of the parameter curves via suitable interpolation procedure. Furthermore, its rotational deviation, i.e., the angle deviation from the parallel (no rotation) frame along the spine curve, can be controlled with the use of the rotation deviation estimate of the parameter curves. Our numerical experiment shows that the rotation deviation is minuscule. When compared with other earlier results including our earlier one, our result fares extremely favorably. To facilitate the implement, a practitioners’ summary is given in the appendix.  2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.