Algorithms for fast visualization of smooth deformable surfaces

Abstract

Molecular surfaces are essential for computations of chemical and physical properties for protein-protein interactions in the fields like drug design. Edelsbrunner proposed a new paradigm named the skin surface. The principal goal of this thesis was to develop and implement efficient algorithms for the purpose of fast visualization of surfaces represented in the skin surface model.Two algorithms are given in this thesis. The RBT clipping algorithm decomposes the skin surface into a set of rational Bezier triangles by clipping quadratic surfaces in their respective mixed cells. The skin flow complex algorithm constructs a sequence of quadratic complexes to represent the growing skin surfaces of a macromolecule. It fills the purpose of usages in different sizes of solvents. Moreover, the two algorithms are general enough for other molecular models and geometric modelling purposes, such as CAD/CAM applications.