Planar piecewise algebraic curves

An approach is described for piecing together segments of planar algebraic curves with derivative continuity. The application of piecewise algebraic curves to area modelling (the two-dimensional analogue of solid modelling) is discussed. A technique is presented for expressing a planar rational parametric curve as an algebraic curve segment. An upper bound is derived for the farthest distance between two algebraic curves (one of which may also be a parametric curve) within a specified region.