Alessandra Sestini

Rida T. Farouki, Graziano Gentili, Carlotta Giannelli et al.

A rotation-minimizing frame $({\bf f}_1,{\bf f}_2,{\bf f}_3)$ on a space curve ${\bf r}(ξ)$ defines an orthonormal basis for $\mathbb{R}^3$ in which ${\bf f}_1={\bf r}'/|{\bf r}'|$ is the curve tangent, and the normal-plane vectors ${\bf f}_2$, ${\bf f}_3$ exhibit no instantaneous rotation about ${\bf f}_1$. Polynomial curves that admit rational rotation-minimizing frames (or RRMF curves) form a subset of the Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) curves, specified by integrating the form ${\bf r}'(ξ)={\cal A}(ξ)\,{\bf i}\,{\cal A}^*(ξ)$ for some quaternion polynomial ${\cal A}(ξ)$. By introducing the notion of rotation indicatrix and of core of the quaternion polynomial ${\cal A}(ξ)$, a comprehensive characterization of the complete space of RRMF curves is developed, that subsumes all previously known special cases. This novel characterization helps clarify the structure of the complete space of RRMF curves, distinguishes the spatial RRMF curves from trivial (planar) cases, and paves the way toward new construction algorithms.

Antonella Falini, Carlotta Giannelli, Tadej Kanduc et al.

The isogeometric formulation of Boundary Element Method (BEM) is investigated within the adaptivity framework. Suitable weighted quadrature rules to evaluate integrals appearing in the Galerkin BEM formulation of 2D Laplace model problems are introduced. The new quadrature schemes are based on a spline quasi-interpolant (QI) operator and properly framed in the hierarchical setting. The local nature of the QI perfectly fits with hierarchical spline constructions and leads to an efficient and accurate numerical scheme. An automatic adaptive refinement strategy is driven by a residual based error estimator. Numerical examples show that the optimal convergence rate of the BEM solution is recovered by the proposed adaptive method.

Cesare Bracco, Carlotta Giannelli, Alessandra Sestini

We introduce an adaptive scattered data fitting scheme as extension of local least squares approximations to hierarchical spline spaces. To efficiently deal with non-trivial data configurations, the local solutions are described in terms of (variable degree) polynomial approximations according not only to the number of data points locally available, but also to the smallest singular value of the local collocation matrices. These local approximations are subsequently combined without the need of additional computations with the construction of hierarchical quasi-interpolants described in terms of truncated hierarchical B-splines. A selection of numerical experiments shows the effectivity of our approach for the approximation of real scattered data sets describing different terrain configurations.

Cesare Bracco, Carlotta Giannelli, Francesca Mazzia et al.

Spline quasi-interpolation (QI) is a general and powerful approach for the construction of low cost and accurate approximations of a given function. In order to provide an efficient adaptive approximation scheme in the bivariate setting, we consider quasi-interpolation in hierarchical spline spaces. In particular, we study and experiment the features of the hierarchical extension of the tensor-product formulation of the Hermite BS quasi-interpolation scheme. The convergence properties of this hierarchical operator, suitably defined in terms of truncated hierarchical B-spline bases, are analyzed. A selection of numerical examples is presented to compare the performances of the hierarchical and tensor-product versions of the scheme.

Carlotta Giannelli, Duccio Mugnaini, Alessandra Sestini

We present a configurable trajectory planning strategy on planar paths for offline definition of time-dependent C2 piecewise quintic feedrates. The more conservative formulation ensures chord tolerance, as well as prescribed bounds on velocity, acceleration and jerk Cartesian components. Since the less restrictive formulations of our strategy can usually still ensure all the desired bounds while simultaneously producing faster motions, the configurability feature is useful not only when reduced motion control is desired but also when full kinematic control has to be guaranteed. Our approach can be applied to any planar path with a piecewise sufficiently smooth parametric representation. When Pythagoreanhodograph spline curves are considered, the corresponding accurate and efficient CNC interpolator algorithms can be exploited.

Francesco Patrizi, Alessandra Sestini

We introduce an efficient algorithmic procedure for implementing the direct formula that represents the product of splines in the B-spline basis. We first demonstrate the relevance of this direct approach through numerical evidence showing that implicit methods, such as collocation, may fail in some instances due to severe ill-conditioning of the associated system matrices, whereas the direct formula remains robust. We then recast the direct formula into an algorithmic framework based on the Oslo Algorithm and subsequently enhance it, through a factorization of the terms to be computed, to dramatically improve computational efficiency. Extensive numerical experiments illustrate the substantial reduction in computational cost achieved by the proposed method. Implementation aspects are also discussed to ensure numerical stability and applicability.

Cesare Bracco, Oleg Davydov, Carlotta Giannelli et al.

We present a method to detect discontinuity curves, usually called faults, from a set of scattered data. The scheme first extracts from the data set a subset of points close to the faults. This selection is based on an indicator obtained by using numerical differentiation formulas with irregular centers for gradient approximation, since they can be directly applied to the scattered point cloud without intermediate approximations on a grid. The shape of the faults is reconstructed through local computations of regression lines and quadratic least squares approximations. In the final reconstruction stage, a suitable curve interpolation algorithm is applied to the selected set of ordered points previously associated with each fault.

Rida T. Farouki, Graziano Gentili, Carlotta Giannelli et al.

A comprehensive analysis of the morphology of the solution space for a special type of quadratic quaternion equation is presented. This equation, which arises in a surface construction problem, incorporates linear terms in a quaternion variable and its conjugate with right and left quaternion coefficients, while the quadratic term has a quaternion coefficient placed between the variable and its conjugate. It is proved that, for generic coefficients, the equation has two, one, or no solutions, but in certain special instances the solution set may comprise a circle or a 3-sphere in the quaternion space $\mathbb{H}$. The analysis yields solutions for each case, and intuitive interpretations of them in terms of the four-dimensional geometry of the quaternion space $\mathbb{H}$.

Luigi Brugnano, Alessandra Sestini

We investigate the use of piecewise linear systems, whose coefficient matrix is a piecewise constant function of the solution itself. Such systems arise, for example, from the numerical solution of linear complementarity problems and in the numerical solution of free-surface problems. In particular, we here study their application to the numerical solution of both the (linear) parabolic obstacle problem and the obstacle problem. We propose a class of effective semi-iterative Newton-type methods to find the exact solution of such piecewise linear systems. We prove that the semiiterative Newton-type methods have a global monotonic convergence property, i.e., the iterates converge monotonically to the exact solution in a finite number of steps. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.