Patent ID: 7088363

Claim:
A method of storing substantial data integrating shape and physical properties, comprising the following steps: an external data input step (A) for inputting external data consisting of boundary data of an object; an Octree division step (B) for dividing, by modified Octree division, the external data into cubical divided cells with boundary surfaces orthogonal to each other, wherein each divided cell is classified as only one member of the group consisting of (1) a non-boundary cell not including a boundary surface of the object and located in the interior or in the outside region of the object, and (2) a boundary cell including the boundary surface of the object, wherein the modified Octree division comprises the steps of: i. re-dividing by Octree division only boundary cells, wherein each boundary cell is divided into smaller cells, and each smaller cell is then classified as either a non-boundary cell or a boundary cell; and ii. acquiring cut points by replacing each boundary cell, either strictly or approximately, by cut points on twelve ridge lines in three dimensions and on four ridge lines in two dimensions, wherein re-division of only boundary cells is performed until sufficient cut points are acquired to reconstruct boundary shape elements, including boundary surfaces, included in the external data; and a cell data storage step (C) for storing the values of physical properties for each of the cells.