Patent ID: 7222057

Claim:
A computerized method for modeling a feature associated with a deformed material, comprising: generating a first mesh model modeling a material in a pre-deformation configuration; defining a model of the feature with respect to the first mesh model, the model comprising a plurality of points; generating, by performing a finite element analysis, a second mesh model modeling the material in a deformed configuration; modeling the response of the feature to the deformation of the material modeled by the second mesh model, the modeling of the response performed by: measuring a distance between at least one of the plurality of points and a surface point of the first mesh model along a vector normal to the surface of the first mesh model and intersecting the at least one of the plurality of points and the surface point; determining the location of the surface point; locating the same surface point on the second mesh model as the surface point on the first mesh model; and determining a new location for a new point corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of points, the new location located at the measured distance away from the same surface point of the second mesh model along a vector that is normal to the second mesh model, the vector intersecting the same surface point on the second mesh model, the new location representative of the response of the feature to the deformation of the material; and displaying on an output device the feature on the second mesh model modeling in the deformed configuration.