Geometric elements and classification of quadrics in rational Bézier form (Q5964618)

A triangular Bézier patch of degree two whose boundary conics intersect in a common point lies on a quadric. In this article, the authors compute geometric entities of this quadric and provide criteria to determine normal forms. Formulas are derived by means of classic projective geometry and follow the traditional order of going from projective to affine and, ultimately, equiformal or Euclidean properties: Algebraic equation and projective type; center and paraboloids; conic at infinity and affine type; degenerate quadrics; equiformal type; diametral planes, axes, vertices. All formulas are coordinate free and mostly use linear and quadratic forms computed from the patch's control points and weight. This gives them a neat and compact shape and makes them easily applicable. In a concluding section the authors discuss examples and demonstrate how to apply their methods to tensor product quadric patches.