Computational Methods for the Representation of Contour Lines

Abstract: Various methods exist for the automatic representation of contour plots, frequently used in civil engineering to show, for example, stress distributions in a field or elevations in a survey map. This paper describes some of the contouring methods that influenced the development of algorithms for automatically contouring data specified on grids. Although many methods have been studied in the contouring field, the development of contour lines through a specified grid system is simple and very effective in the solution of various engineering problems. Specific details will be given on the creation of contour plots on regular grids, since routines to contour data that are scattered may interpolate values of points on a regular grid. Procedures for the creation of a three-dimensional surface through the contour lines will also be given.