Self-intersections of offsets of quadratic surfaces. II: Implicit surfaces (Q1383347): Difference between revisions

``Offsets'', i.e. inner and outer parallel surfaces, are important in computer assisted manufacturing. Even for surfaces given by simple equations, these parallel surfaces are difficult to handle. For practical purposes, the parallel surface becomes useless if it exhibits self-intersections. Locally, these self-intersections appear for outer parallel surfaces over hyperbolic domains if the parallel distance exceeds the negative principal curvature, and for inner parallel surfaces of all kinds of surfaces if the inner distance exceeds the maximum positive principal curvature. Since any regular surface has at every point an osculating Dupin's quadric, the local behavior of parallel surfaces can locally be modelled by quadrics. In the two papers under review, the author works out in detail the formulas for the offset surfaces of a quadric [either given in the form \(z= f(x, y)\) or, in the second paper, in the form \(F(x,y,z)= 0\)] and determines explicitly the curves of self-intersection for hyperbolic and parabolic quadrics.