Patent ID: 6870548

Claim:
A method for modifying, in particular for optimizing, the design of a component with regard to one or more criteria using a virtual model of the component, said method comprising the steps of: a) producing a virtual model of the component by combining the component from basic objects with the aid of Boolean operators, b) assigning each basic object is assigned an information element in which attributes of the basic object are stored, said attributes including parameter values, interval limits and rules, are stored, c) constructing each basic object from primitive objects which are combined with aid of Boolean operators, the primitive objects being surfaces or bodies which can be decomposed into rasters, d) assigning each geometrical contact surface or contact line, produced in the case of the Boolean operation between two or more objects, a connecting element in which information for coordinating the objects is stored, e) rastering of the primitive objects by a conventional gridding method, f) modifying a geometrical shape of individual or a group of objects is undertaken, wherein the information of the information elements define the limits of possible modifications.