Approximations of Singular Surfaces with Standard Cuspidal Edges

We consider a function from the Euclidean three space whose zero set is the image of the standard cuspidal edge. The composition of a parametrized singular surface in the three space with this function provides an approximation of the surface by the standard cuspidal edge. Taking a look at singularities of this composition, we study various approximations of singular surfaces like the cross cap, the generalized cuspidal edge and the swallowtail by standard cuspidal edges.