$\Phi $-functions for complex 2D-objects

Within two-dimensional cutting and packing problems with irregular shaped objects, the concept of -functions has been proven to be very helpful for several solution approaches. In order to construct such -functions a previous work, in which so-called primary objects are considered, is continued. Now -functions are constructed for pairs of objects which can be represented as a finite combination (union, intersection, complement) of primary objects which allows the handling of arbitrary shaped objects by appropriate approximations of sufficient accuracy.Received: October 2002, Revised: October 2003, AMS classification: 65K05, 90C26, 90B06All correspondence to: Guntram Scheithauer