Filling holes under non-linear constraints

Abstract

In this paper we handle the problem of filling the hole in the graphic of a surface by means of a patch that joins the original surface with C1-smoothness and fulfills an additional non-linear geometrical constraint regarding its area or its mean curvature at some points. Furthermore, we develop a technique to estimate the optimum area that the filling patch is expected to have that will allow us to determine optimum filling patches by means of a system of linear and quadratic equations. We present several numerical and graphical examples showing the effectiveness of the proposed method.