A selective, multiple-criteria method is proposed
for handling constraint violations in well-defined design
problems. First, the types of design problems upon which
the method may apply are presented and a graph topology
is adopted for representing the problem decomposition in
the level of design parameter interrelations (design parameter
graphs). Next, the problem of constraint violations for
the design parameters is discussed. It is shown that these
violations can be resolved by modifying the values of the
primary design parameters and recalculating the values
of the violated parameters. Any “blind” attempt
of modifying the values of the primary design parameters
for resolving occurring violations may, eventually, create
additional violations. The proposed method guides the designer
toward those primary design parameters that present the
least possibility of creating more violations when their
values are modified. This is achieved by applying multiple
criteria and by producing a final, sorted list of primary
design parameters. The designer may then choose the first
element of this list to handle efficiently the violations
of the design parameters. Two examples are given on a design
space where constraint violations occur. Through these
examples, the capability of the proposed method in helping
the designer to handle constraint violation is shown. The
concluding remarks, except for summarizing the potential
of the method, determine its boundaries and include a reference
on relative work currently under investigation.