ixScale User Guide

ixScale designs parts you can 3D-print: solids, lattices (gyroids, struts), parts with lattice inside, and it checks them with simulation (FEA) and topology optimization. This guide explains how to use it, step by step. In the app, Help ▸ User Guide opens it.

If you are an AI assistant helping someone use ixScale, read the last section, For an AI tutor, first.

1. How ixScale thinks

• A model is a chain of cards. Every card makes one thing: a box, a lattice, a union of two bodies, a mesh, a simulation result. Cards sit in columns on the Workflow panel on the left. A wire from one card to another feeds the first card’s result into the second.
• Change anything, and everything after it updates. Edit a size on the first card and every card downstream recomputes by itself. You never press “rebuild”.
• Shapes are exact until you ask for a mesh. A box, a gyroid or a union is kept as an exact mathematical shape, drawn directly in the 3D view. Only when you make a mesh (for printing or for simulation) do you choose a resolution – a Voxel or MaxSize – and only that mesh depends on it.
• Two cards run only when you ask: FEA Solve and TopOpt (they can take minutes). They have a Solve button. After you change something upstream they keep showing the old result, marked “inputs changed”, until you press Solve again.
• Undo undoes everything that changes the model (Ctrl+Z; on macOS ⌘Z), including colors. What you are looking at – which cards are shown or hidden, the camera, the selection – is not part of undo.

2. The window

The ribbon along the top has one tab per kind of card; a tab’s menu lists its cards (the same list as the Create menu):

Panels (each can be closed, moved or floated like any dock):

• Workflow – on the left
• Log – along the bottom
• API Console – along the bottom
• AI Agent – along the bottom

Also on screen:

• The 3D view fills the rest of the window. The Section button at its top left cuts every body with a plane (section 3.8); the small cube at its top right shows which way you are looking.
• The status bar at the bottom shows messages: why a wire was refused, the selected card’s status, what just happened.
• While a card computes, a small panel at the bottom left of the 3D view shows it, with an ✕ to cancel it.
• The window’s title shows the file name, and a * when there are unsaved changes. With a free trial or an education license it says so, and any license shows how many days are left once fewer than 90 remain.
• Account ▸ Account… shows the email you are signed in with, your license and when it ends; Manage Account Online… opens your account page at ixscale.com (licenses, devices, downloads); Sign Out… signs this computer out and asks you to sign in again.
• When a newer ixScale is published, the right end of the status bar says so a few seconds after the app opens: Download saves the installer for your computer (Mac or Windows) through your browser; quit ixScale, then install it. Skip hides that version until a later one is published. Help ▸ Check for Updates… asks at any time.

3. The basic actions

3.1 Make a card

Three ways, all doing the same thing:

1. Click a tab on the ribbon (for example Primitives) and choose a card.
2. The Create menu, which lists the same cards.
3. Double-click an empty spot on the canvas and type part of a name (Add card here…), or type in the Search cards… field above the canvas. The list matches as you type – “vlw” finds Volume Wireframe – Up / Down choose, Enter creates.

A new card goes to the bottom of the current column and is named after its type with a number: Box 1, Box 2…

A new card is wired to what you have selected. If cards are selected when you create one, the new card takes them as its inputs, in the order the selected cards were created (not the order you clicked them). Select Box 1, then choose Operations ▸ Subtract, and the new Subtract already reads Box 1. If you want a card on its own, click an empty spot of the canvas first so nothing is selected.

3.2 Change a parameter

Each card has a Parameters section (click the ▼ / ▶ bar to fold it). Type a value and press Enter (or click elsewhere): the change applies and the cards after it update. Scrolling the mouse wheel over a card scrolls the canvas – it never changes a value.

3.3 Wire cards together

• Drag from a card’s round dot (in its colored footer) and drop it on another card’s input row (the rows with a small square at the top of a card). The target turns teal if it takes that input, red if not – the status bar says why.
• Click a filled input square to remove that wire.
• Drive a parameter with a value. Drag a Number card’s dot onto a parameter row: that parameter now follows the Number (the row shows the Number’s name; its ✕ stops following and keeps the value). Unfold the parameters first – a folded card takes no drop.
• Several things into one input. Inputs that take several bodies (a Union’s Bodies) read a List card. Create the Union with the bodies selected and the List is made for you; to add one later, drop it on the List’s empty row.

Click a card’s dot (without dragging) to show or hide its result in the 3D view (filled dot = shown). When a card first shows a result, the cards feeding it hide themselves once, so you see the result, not its ingredients.

3.4 Select, move, delete, duplicate

• Click a card to select it; Ctrl-click (⌘-click) adds or removes one; Shift-click selects a range. Click empty canvas to clear.
• Drag a card by its body to move it, within its column or to another.
• Edit ▸ Delete (or the Delete / Backspace key) removes the selected cards. The cards that used them stay, waiting for a new input – nothing else is deleted. Undo brings them back with their wires.
• Edit ▸ Duplicate (Ctrl+D) copies the selected cards, with the wires between them.
• Right-click a card for Rename…, Hide / Show, Color…, Opacity, Duplicate and Delete. Double-clicking a card’s name also renames it.

3.5 Read a card

• A small badge at a card’s top right says it needs something: i (blue) is a note – usually that it is waiting for an input or a setting; ! (amber) is a warning; ! (red) is an error. Hover over it, or select the card and read the status bar, for the message.
• A spinning circle means it is computing.
• Value cards show their result under their parameters: a Measure card its volume and area, an FEA Solve its maximum displacement and stress, a TopOpt its iterations and density. You can select and copy that text.

3.6 Columns (workflows)

Right-click an empty part of the canvas for Add Workflow, Rename Workflow… and Remove Workflow. Click in a column to make it current: new cards go there. Keep unrelated models in separate columns.

The triangle before a column’s name folds it (or right-click: Fold Workflow): the column shrinks to a narrow strip with its name upright, and its cards and every wire into or out of them are hidden. Click the triangle again, or Unfold Workflow, to open it. Adding a card to a folded column opens it. Folding is saved with the file.

3.7 The 3D view

View ▸ Fit (Shift+F) brings everything into view. View ▸ Theme ▸ Dark (or Light) sets the look.

3.8 Section view

Press Section at the top left of the 3D view to cut every body with a plane – the way to see inside a lattice or a hollow part. Drag the gizmo’s colored arrows to slide the plane and its arcs to turn it, or type Rotation (°) and Center (mm) in the panel. Press Section again to turn it off.

3.9 Files

• File ▸ Save (Ctrl+S) saves a .scale file. Imported files (STL, STEP…) are stored inside it, so it opens anywhere.
• File ▸ Import… (Ctrl+I) brings in an STL mesh, a STEP part, a VDB grid or an Abaqus model as a card. You can also drag the file onto the window (a .scale file opens instead).
• File ▸ Export Selected… (Ctrl+E) writes the one selected card: a solid or mesh as Binary STL (*.stl) (a solid is meshed first), an FEA model as Abaqus .inp, a cell map as .csv.
• If you close or open with unsaved changes, ixScale asks: Save, Discard or Cancel.

3.10 Faces of a STEP part

An imported STEP part keeps its faces. To use some of them – as the region an FEA condition acts on, or as solids of their own:

1. Select the STEP card. The 3D view switches to picking its faces.
2. Click a face to pick it (it turns green). Shift-click adds another, and Shift-clicking a picked face drops it; a plain click starts over.
3. Right-click a face: one picked face becomes a Face card; several become a Face card each, collected in a List – one step to undo.

A Face card can be an FEA condition’s Region. Face to Implicit turns a face into a solid; given a List of faces, it makes one per face.

3.11 Lookup tools

The Tools menu has two calculators that need no model: Lattice Density Lookup… converts between a lattice’s relative density and the strut radius or wall thickness that gives it, and Homogenized Properties Lookup… gives a lattice’s stiffness as a bulk material. They are described on the website’s documentation page (ixscale.com/docs.html).

4. Tutorials

Each tutorial builds one part from an empty document (File ▸ New). The numbers they quote are checked against ixScale itself; yours should match to within a percent or two.

Tutorial 1: a plate with a hole

1. Primitives ▸ Box. On Box 1 set Size X 60, Size Y 40, Size Z 10.
2. Click an empty spot of the canvas (so nothing is selected), then Primitives ▸ Cylinder. Set Radius 8 and Height 20.
3. Select Box 1, Ctrl-click (⌘-click) Cylinder 1, then Operations ▸ Subtract. Subtract 1 is the plate with a hole through it; the box and the cylinder hide themselves.
4. With Subtract 1 selected, Values ▸ Measure, and set its Voxel to 0.5. The card reads the volume: about 22,041 mm³ (the exact plate is 21,989 mm³; a smaller Voxel gets closer).
5. With Subtract 1 selected, Mesh ▸ 2D Mesh, set Voxel 0.5, then File ▸ Export Selected… and choose Binary STL (*.stl): a file ready to print.

Try: change Radius on Cylinder 1 to 12 – the plate, the volume and the mesh all update.

Tutorial 2: a shell filled with a gyroid

A lightweight part: a 2 mm skin with a gyroid lattice inside.

1. Primitives ▸ Box; set Size X, Size Y and Size Z to 40.
2. With Box 1 selected, Operations ▸ Offset. Set Direction to Shrink and Offset to 2: Offset 1 is the box shrunk by 2 mm (an Offset does nothing until its Direction is chosen).
3. Select Box 1, Ctrl-click Offset 1, Operations ▸ Subtract: Subtract 1 is the 2 mm shell.
4. Select Offset 1 only, Lattice ▸ Volume TPMS: it fills the inside with a gyroid. Set Size X, Size Y, Size Z to 10 (that is the size of ONE cell), Mode to Wall and Offset to 0.3 (the wall thickness).
5. Select Subtract 1 and V TPMS 1, Operations ▸ Union.
6. With Union 1 selected, Values ▸ Measure, Voxel 0.5: about 25,690 mm³ – 40% of the 64,000 mm³ solid box.

Press Section to see the gyroid inside the shell.

Tutorial 3: a strut lattice trimmed to a sphere

1. Cell Maps ▸ Cell Array: set Size X, Size Y, Size Z to 8 and nX, nY, nZ to 4 – a block of 4 x 4 x 4 cells of 8 mm.
2. With Cell Array 1 selected, Lattice ▸ Cell to Lattice, and set Topology to Octet: the struts’ center lines.
3. Clear the selection, Primitives ▸ Sphere, Radius 14.
4. Select Cell to Lattice 1 and Sphere 1, Lattice ▸ Trim Wireframe: the lines inside the sphere.
5. With Trim Wireframe 1 selected, Lattice ▸ Strut, Radius 0.8: round struts.
6. Values ▸ Measure on Strut 1, Voxel 0.25: about 717 mm³.

Tutorial 4: check a part with FEA

A 100 x 10 x 10 mm steel bar, fixed at one end, pushed down with 100 N at the other (a cantilever).

1. Primitives ▸ Box: Size X 100, Size Y 10, Size Z 10.
2. With Box 1 selected, Mesh ▸ 3D Mesh: MaxSize 1.25, Remesh Yes. (Why so fine: see Trusting the numbers below.)
3. With 3D Mesh 1 selected, Simulation ▸ FEA Setup. Steel is the default (E 210000 MPa, ν 0.3).
4. Two boxes mark where the bar is held and where it is pushed. Clear the selection, Primitives ▸ Box: Size X 2, Size Y 20, Size Z 20, Center -50, 0, 0 (the left end). Then another: the same sizes, Center 50, 0, 0 (the right end).
5. On FEA Setup 1, under Boundary Conditions, press + twice.
   • Boundary Condition 1: Type Displacement, Select Volume; drag Box 2‘s dot onto its Region row. Fix X, Fix Y and Fix Z are already ticked: a new displacement condition starts fully fixed.
   • Boundary Condition 2: Type Force, Select Volume; drag Box 3‘s dot onto its Region; Force Z -100 (N, downward).
6. With FEA Setup 1 selected, Simulation ▸ FEA Solve, and press Solve. After a few seconds the card reads “max displacement” about 0.177 mm and the 3D view colors the bar by stress. Beam theory gives 0.19 mm; the held end is not perfectly rigid in either, which is most of the difference.
7. The card’s Show picks what the bar is colored by: von Mises stress or Displacement. Max sets the top of the color bar (auto is the peak; hover over it to see the value). A sharp corner or a support often makes one tiny spot far more stressed than the rest, and with the bar running up to that spot the whole part reads blue: type a lower Max and everything above it shows red while the rest spreads across the colors.

Trusting the numbers. The tetrahedra ixScale uses are too stiff when a part bends, until there are enough of them across the thickness. For this bar: MaxSize 5 gives about half the true deflection, 2.5 about 80%, 1.25 about 96%. Always check: halve MaxSize and solve again – if the answer moves by more than a few percent, the mesh was too coarse. Aim for about 8 elements across the thinnest wall that bends.

Hold the part the way it is really held. A cantilever is one end fully fixed. A beam resting on two supports (a three-point bend) is a pin at one end – Fix X, Fix Y, Fix Z, as a new condition starts – and a roller at the other: untick Fix X, so it can slide along the span. Fixing both ends fully is a different, stiffer part: the solve still converges and the answer looks reasonable, but it is wrong. Say the supports in words first, then tick the boxes to match.

Tutorial 5: topology optimization to a printable part

Let ixScale find the stiffest shape that uses 30% of the material.

1. Build the cantilever of Tutorial 4, but with Size Z 20, MaxSize 2.5, and region boxes 30 mm tall (Size Z 30).
2. With FEA Setup 1 selected, Simulation ▸ TopOpt: VolFrac 0.3, MaxIter 40. Press Solve. While it runs, the card shows each iteration (compliance, and how much the densities still change) and the 3D view shows the material so far; the card’s ρ ≥ slider sets which densities are drawn.
3. When it finishes, with TopOpt 1 selected, Simulation ▸ TopOpt to Imp: the material TopOpt kept, as a solid. Its Voxel shows the size it will use (half the mesh’s mean element edge) until you type your own.
4. Values ▸ Measure on TopOpt to Imp 1, Voxel 0.5: about 4,015 mm³ of the 20,000 mm³ bar.
5. Mesh ▸ 2D Mesh on TopOpt to Imp 1 (Voxel 0.5), then File ▸ Export Selected….

The FEA Setup you had selected became the TopOpt’s Load Case 1. A part that works under several conditions (braking and cornering, a load from the side as well as from above) gets one FEA Setup per condition, all on the same 3D Mesh: press + on Load Cases for each, drag its FEA Setup onto the case, and set its Weight, how much that condition counts. TopOpt then finds the stiffest shape for all of them together (the weights are scaled to add up to 1).

5. When something is wrong

The Log panel at the bottom records what each computation did, and any warnings.

6. Every card

What each card makes, its inputs and its parameters (from ixScale itself).

Values

Number – A named design parameter: one number other cards can use. - Value: starts at 0

Math – Arithmetic on A and B, or a Sum / Mean / Min / Max over a List dragged onto A. A List on A or B makes Add..Power work element by element. - A: starts at 0, a number card can drive it – a number, or a List of numbers - B: starts at 1, a number card can drive it – a number, or a List of numbers - Op: one of Add / Subtract / Multiply / Divide / Power / Sum / Mean / Min / Max, starts at Divide

List – Several values of one type, in order: wire each one in. - input Items: number, point, curve, solid, surface mesh, volume mesh, brep, face, cell map, wireframe, node set, scalar map, fea model, topology optimization (a List)

List Item – One element of a List, by its position (1 = the first). - input List: number, point, curve, solid, surface mesh, volume mesh, brep, face, cell map, wireframe, node set, scalar map, fea model, topology optimization (a List) - Index: 1 to 100000, starts at 1, a number card can drive it

Combine – Merges a List of wireframes (or curves), node sets (or points), or meshes into ONE. - input Items: wireframe, curve, node set, point, surface mesh (a List)

Measure – The volume and surface area of a solid (a level set at Voxel) or of a mesh. - input Source: solid, surface mesh, volume mesh (a List: it runs once per element) - Voxel: 0.01 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the resolution a solid is measured at; both numbers move with it

Reference

Point – A point in space. - Position: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0

Line – A polyline through a List of points. - input Points: point (a List)

Curve – A smooth Catmull-Rom curve through a List of points. - input Points: point (a List)

Primitives

Cylinder – A cylinder along Z, centered on its center. - Radius: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Height: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 20, a number card can drive it - Center: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – a point, or several points (a List, a node set): one shape per point

Box – An axis-aligned box. - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 20, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 20, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 20, a number card can drive it - Center: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – a point, or several points (a List, a node set): one shape per point

Sphere – A sphere. - Radius: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Center: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – a point, or several points (a List, a node set): one shape per point

Operations

Union – Union of a List of solids. - input Bodies: solid (a List) - Vox Size: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the resolution this solid is drawn and rasterized at - Blend: 0 to 50 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it – fillet radius at the junction; 0 = sharp

Intersect – Intersect of a List of solids. - input Bodies: solid (a List) - Vox Size: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the resolution this solid is drawn and rasterized at - Blend: 0 to 50 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it – fillet radius at the junction; 0 = sharp

Subtract – A solid minus one or more tools. - input Primary: solid - input Subtract: solid - Vox Size: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the resolution this solid is drawn and rasterized at - Blend: 0 to 50 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it – fillet radius at the junction; 0 = sharp

Offset – Grows or shrinks a solid by a distance (not a hollow shell). - input Body: solid (a List: it runs once per element) - Offset: 0 to 1000000000 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it - Vox Size: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - Direction: one of (select) / Shrink / Expand, starts at (select)

Smooth – Smooths a solid’s surface (level-set mean-curvature or Gaussian flow). - input Body: solid - Method: one of Mean Curvature / Gaussian, starts at Mean Curvature - Iterations: 1 to 50, starts at 3, a number card can drive it – how many smoothing passes; each one smooths over about one voxel - Vox Size: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it – the resolution it smooths at: the input’s own (1 mm for a Box, Cylinder, …) until you set one; smaller = finer detail and less smoothing per pass

Translate – Moves its input. - input Body: solid, cell map, wireframe, curve, surface mesh, brep, face (a List: it runs once per element) - X: -1000000000 to 1000000000 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Y: -1000000000 to 1000000000 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Z: -1000000000 to 1000000000 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it

Rotate – Rotates its input (X, then Y, then Z) about a center. - input Body: solid, cell map, wireframe, curve, surface mesh, brep, face (a List: it runs once per element) - RX: -360 to 360 °, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - RY: -360 to 360 °, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - RZ: -360 to 360 °, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Center: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – what it turns / scales about

Scale – Scales its input about a center. - input Body: solid, cell map, wireframe, curve, surface mesh, brep, face (a List: it runs once per element) - SX: 0.001 to 1000 ×, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - SY: 0.001 to 1000 ×, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - SZ: 0.001 to 1000 ×, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - Center: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – what it turns / scales about

Mirror – Reflects its input about a plane (normal + point). - input Body: solid, cell map, wireframe, curve, surface mesh, brep, face (a List: it runs once per element) - NX: -1000000000 to 1000000000, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - NY: -1000000000 to 1000000000, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - NZ: -1000000000 to 1000000000, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Plane: mm, starts at 0, 0, 0, a point card can drive it – a point on the mirror plane

Lattice

TPMS – A triply periodic minimal surface lattice (Gyroid, Diamond, …), centered on the origin. - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - nX: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it - nY: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it - nZ: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it - Offset: -5 to 5, starts at 0, a number or scalar map card can drive it – the iso level (Solid) or half wall thickness (Wall), dimensionless; a map grades it - AntiPinch: 0 to 1, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Type: one of Gyroid / Diamond / Primitive / IWP / FRD / Lidinoid / SplitP / SchwarzD2, starts at Gyroid - Mode: one of Solid / Wall, starts at Solid

Volume TPMS – A TPMS filling a solid: the TPMS intersected with it. - input Body: solid - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it - Offset: -5 to 5, starts at 0, a number or scalar map card can drive it – the iso level (Solid) or half wall thickness (Wall), dimensionless; a map grades it - AntiPinch: 0 to 1, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Voxel: 0.01 to 100 mm, starts at 0.5, a number card can drive it - Type: one of Gyroid / Diamond / Primitive / IWP / FRD / Lidinoid / SplitP / SchwarzD2, starts at Gyroid - Mode: one of Solid / Wall, starts at Solid - Reverse: starts at off – Solid mode: swap solid and void

TPMS Sides – Colors a Wall TPMS by which side each face is on (the two fluid channels). - input Wall: tpms

Strut – Thickens a wireframe, line or curve into solid tubes. - input Wireframe: wireframe, curve (a List: it runs once per element) - Radius: 0 to 1000 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number or scalar map card can drive it – tube radius; a map grades it

Cell TPMS – Fills a cell map with TPMS geometry, one period per cell. - input Cell Map: cell map - Offset: -5 to 5, starts at 0, a number or scalar map card can drive it – the iso level (Solid) or half wall thickness (Wall), dimensionless; a map grades it - AntiPinch: 0 to 1, starts at 0, a number card can drive it - Type: one of Gyroid / Diamond / Primitive / IWP / FRD / Lidinoid / SplitP / SchwarzD2, starts at Gyroid - Mode: one of Solid / Wall, starts at Solid

Cell to Lattice – A lattice topology (Grid, X, …) applied to every cell of a cell map. - input Cell Map: cell map - Topology: one of Grid / X / Star / Octet / Face Center / Grid Octet / X Cross Grid / Vintiles / Tesseract, starts at X – the unit cell’s struts (Grid: the cube’s edges; X: corners to the center; …)

Trim Wireframe – The part of a wireframe inside a solid. - input Wire: wireframe, curve - input Body: solid

Volume Wireframe – A lattice filling a solid’s bounding box, trimmed to the solid. - input Body: solid - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Topology: one of Grid / X / Star / Octet / Face Center / Grid Octet / X Cross Grid / Vintiles / Tesseract, starts at X – the unit cell’s struts (Grid: the cube’s edges; X: corners to the center; …)

Tet Lattice – A strut lattice from a mesh’s edges (a tet mesh’s, or a surface mesh’s). - input Mesh: surface mesh, volume mesh

Random Nodes – Random seed points in a mesh’s volume or on its surface. - input Mesh: surface mesh, volume mesh - Mode: one of Volume / Surface, starts at Volume - Count: 1 to 1000000, starts at 200, a number card can drive it - Jitter: 0 to 1, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – 1: fully random; lower: more even - Seed: 0 to 1000000, starts at 1, a number card can drive it

Voronoi – A Voronoi wireframe from seed points: cells on a mesh (Surface), or a 3D foam (Volume), trimmed to the mesh when Closed. - input Nodes: node set - input Mesh: surface mesh, volume mesh - Type: one of Surface / Volume, starts at Volume - Mode: one of Open / Closed, starts at Closed – Volume only: Closed trims the foam to the mesh

Cell Maps

Cell Array – A periodic box grid of cells from the origin. - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - nX: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it - nY: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it - nZ: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it

Cylinder Cell – A cylindrical cell map (full revolution) about +Z from the origin. - Outer R: 0.001 to 100000 mm, starts at 30, a number card can drive it - Inner R: 0 to 100000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it – below 1 mm the cells reach the axis and a solid core fills it - Height: 0.001 to 100000 mm, starts at 30, a number card can drive it - nθ: 1 to 2000, starts at 12, a number card can drive it - nR: 1 to 1000, starts at 2, a number card can drive it - nZ: 1 to 1000, starts at 3, a number card can drive it

Sphere Cell – A spherical cell map (full revolution) about the origin. - Outer R: 0.001 to 100000 mm, starts at 30, a number card can drive it - Inner R: 0 to 100000 mm, starts at 10, a number card can drive it – below 1 mm the cells reach the center and a solid core fills it - nφ: 1 to 2000, starts at 12, a number card can drive it - nR: 1 to 1000, starts at 2, a number card can drive it - nθ: 1 to 1000, starts at 6, a number card can drive it

Volume Cell Map – The cells of a box grid over a solid that touch it. - input Body: solid - Size X: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Y: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it - Size Z: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 5, a number card can drive it

Conformal Cell – Hex cells stretched between two CAD faces: nU x nV on each face, nW layers between them. - input Face A: face - input Face B: face - nU: 1 to 1000, starts at 4, a number card can drive it - nV: 1 to 1000, starts at 4, a number card can drive it - nW: 1 to 1000, starts at 2, a number card can drive it - Adjust: one of Normal / FlipU / FlipV / Rot180 / Swap / SwapFlipU / SwapFlipV / SwapRot180, starts at Normal – how face B’s (u, v) lines up with face A’s; change it when the cells come out twisted - Cells: one of Flat / Curved, starts at Flat – Flat: straight-edged cells between the grid points. Curved: cells that follow the surface

Surface Cell Map – One layer of hex cells on a CAD face, Thickness deep along its normal. A U or V curve makes the grid lines follow it (evenly spaced along the curve, projected onto the face). - input Face: face - input U Curve: curve - input V Curve: curve - nU: 1 to 1000, starts at 4, a number card can drive it - nV: 1 to 1000, starts at 4, a number card can drive it - Thickness: 0.001 to 10000 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – how deep the cells go along the surface normal - Symmetric: starts at off – half the thickness on each side of the face - Flip: starts at off – offset to the other side of the face - Cells: one of Flat / Curved, starts at Flat – Flat: straight-edged cells between the grid points. Curved: cells that follow the surface

Maps

HeteroMap – A scalar field interpolated from control points (x, y, z, value), loaded from a CSV – or, with a TopOpt wired in, one point per element: its centroid and density. - input TopOpt: topology optimization

Gradient Map – A piecewise-linear gradient along an axis, from (position, value) stops. - Axis: one of X / Y / Z, starts at X - Stops: a list of items, each with P, V

Map Scale – A map’s values remapped linearly onto [Out Min, Out Max]. - input Map: scalar map - Out Min: -1000000 to 1000000, starts at 1, a number card can drive it - Out Max: -1000000 to 1000000, starts at 5, a number card can drive it

Mesh

2D Mesh – Meshes a solid’s surface at a voxel size (marching cubes), optionally cleaned and improved. - input Body: solid (a List: it runs once per element) - Voxel: 0.001 to 500 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it – the voxel size the surface is extracted at; finer follows the shape more closely - Clean: starts at off – drop disconnected pieces smaller than Min Feat and close boundary holes - Repair: starts at off – improve the triangles (smoothing and edge flips) for a volume mesher; needs Clean - Iter: 0 to 50, starts at 10, a number card can drive it – improvement passes (Repair) - Strength: 0 to 1, starts at 0.5, a number card can drive it – relaxation per pass (Repair) - Min Feat: 0 to 1000 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – pieces smaller than this are dropped (Clean)

Remesh – Rebuilds a surface mesh with Netgen at a target edge length. - input Mesh: surface mesh (a List: it runs once per element) - Size: 0.001 to 1000 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it – the largest triangle edge - Grading: 0 to 1, starts at 0.3, a number card can drive it – how fast elements grow away from detail; 0 = uniform - Min Size: 0 to 1000 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it – the smallest element; features below it are ignored (0 = no floor) - Mode: one of Adaptive / Uniform, starts at Adaptive – Adaptive refines near curvature and edges and stays at the size elsewhere – fewer elements for the same fidelity, and the usual choice for FEA. Uniform holds one element size everywhere: use it when size must be predictable, such as comparing variants.

3D Mesh – Fills a solid or a closed surface mesh with tetrahedra (Netgen). - input Body: solid, surface mesh (a List: it runs once per element) - MaxSize: 0.001 to 1000 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it – the largest interior element - Grading: 0 to 1, starts at 0.3, a number card can drive it – how fast elements grow away from the surface; 0 = uniform - Min Size: 0 to 1000 mm, starts at 0, a number card can drive it – the smallest element; features below it are ignored (0 = no floor) - OptSteps: 0 to 10, starts at 2, a number card can drive it – quality improvement passes - Remesh: one of No / Yes, starts at No – No keeps the input surface exactly as it arrived and only fills the inside – right for lattices and cellular parts, where the surface IS the feature, and for anything whose surface you already shaped with a 2D Mesh. Yes rebuilds the surface at MaxSize – right for a bulky solid, where a fine surface next to a coarse interior wastes elements and meshes badly. Hollow and shelled bodies keep their surface too (if a cavity would fill, the surface is rebuilt and the card says so); an imported mesh is always rebuilt. - Mode: one of Adaptive / Uniform, starts at Adaptive – Adaptive refines near curvature and edges and stays at the size elsewhere – fewer elements for the same fidelity, and the usual choice for FEA. Uniform holds one element size everywhere: use it when size must be predictable, such as comparing variants.

Mesh to Implicit – Turns a closed surface mesh into a solid (an exact distance field; cavities survive). - input Mesh: surface mesh (a List: it runs once per element) - Voxel: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the resolution this solid is drawn and rasterized at

Import

STL Mesh – A triangle mesh read from a binary or ASCII STL file. - File: starts at – the file; its contents are kept in the document

VDB Grid – A solid read from an OpenVDB level set (.vdb, its first float grid). - File: starts at – the file; its contents are kept in the document

STEP – A CAD body (B-rep) read from a STEP file. - File: starts at – the file; its contents are kept in the document

Abaqus Model – An FEA model read from an Abaqus .inp file: its mesh, material and node-set conditions. - File: starts at – the file; its contents are kept in the document

CAD

Face – Faces of a CAD body, by number: pick them in the viewport, or type them. - input BRep: brep - Faces: starts at – face numbers, as in 0, 3, 5; several make one multi-face value

BRep to Mesh – Tessellates a CAD body or face into a triangle mesh. - input BRep: brep, face (a List: it runs once per element) - Tol: 0.001 to 1000 mm, starts at 0.1, a number card can drive it – the largest distance from a triangle to the true CAD surface

Face to Implicit – A slab around a CAD face: everything within Tol of it, on both sides. - input Face: face (a List: it runs once per element) - Voxel: 0.01 to 100 mm, starts at 0.5, a number card can drive it – the resolution of the slab’s grid - Tol: 0.001 to 1000 mm, starts at 0.5, a number card can drive it – HALF the slab’s thickness: everything within this distance of the face is solid

BRep Edges – The edges of a CAD body or face, as a wireframe. - input BRep: brep, face (a List: it runs once per element)

Simulation

FEA Setup – A linear-elastic model: a volume mesh, its material, and boundary conditions – each on nodes picked in the viewport, or on the nodes near (Surface) or inside (Volume) a region body. - input Mesh: volume mesh - Order: one of Linear (C3D4) / Quadratic (C3D10), starts at Linear (C3D4) – Quadratic promotes every tet to 10 nodes: much more accurate in bending, ~8x the unknowns - E: 1 to 1000000000 MPa, starts at 210000, a number card can drive it – Young’s modulus (steel: 210000 MPa) - ν: 0 to 0.499, starts at 0.3, a number card can drive it – Poisson’s ratio - Boundary Conditions: a list of boundary conditions, each with Type, Select, Region, Distance, Nodes, Fix X, Fix Y, Fix Z, Move X, Move Y, Move Z, Force X, Force Y, Force Z

FEA Solve – Solves an FEA model (static, linear): displacements and von Mises stress. Runs when asked. It computes only when you press its button (it does not follow edits by itself). - input FEA: fea model

TopOpt – Topology optimization (SIMP): the stiffest material layout at a volume fraction, for one or more load cases (FEA Setups on one mesh, weighted). Runs when asked. It computes only when you press its button (it does not follow edits by itself). - Load Cases: a list of load cases, each with FEA, Weight - VolFrac: 0.05 to 0.95, starts at 0.3, a number card can drive it – the material kept - Penalty: 1 to 6, starts at 3, a number card can drive it – SIMP penalty p - Filter: 1 to 8 × elem, starts at 2, a number card can drive it – density filter radius, in mean element edges - MaxIter: 10 to 500, starts at 100, a number card can drive it - Tol: 1e-05 to 0.1, starts at 0.001, a number card can drive it – stop when no density changes more than this - Constraints: a list of constraints, each with Type, Point, Normal

TopOpt to Imp – A TopOpt’s material as a solid: the region where Min ρ <= density <= Max ρ, optionally smoothed. - input TopOpt: topology optimization - Min ρ: 0 to 1, starts at 0.5, a number card can drive it – the lower density surface - Max ρ: 0 to 1, starts at 1, a number card can drive it – the upper density surface; 1 = none - Voxel: 0.001 to 100 mm, starts at 0, 0 means not set, a number card can drive it – not set: half the TopOpt mesh’s mean element edge (shown in the field) - Smooth: a list of items, each with Method, Iter

7. For an AI tutor

If you are an AI assistant using this guide to help someone:

• Give one step at a time and ask what they see before the next. Name the exact control – Operations ▸ Subtract, the Size X field on Box 1 – as this guide names it, and never one that is not in sections 2, 3 or 6.
• Selection decides wiring. Most “it did not connect” problems are a card created with the wrong cards selected (or none). Ask what was selected.
• Read the badge. Ask the person to hover over the card’s badge or read the status bar; the message says what is missing.
• Numbers come from Measure, not from looks. A box in the 3D view can look right at the wrong size; a Measure card’s reading is the fact.
• Two cards run only on Solve (FEA Solve, TopOpt); a stale one says “inputs changed”.
• For FEA, check the mesh (Tutorial 4, Trusting the numbers) before trusting a stress or a displacement, and state the supports and loads in words and confirm them with the person before solving.
• If ixScale is connected to you through its AI integration (Tools ▸ AI Control…), you can build the model yourself – then use the separate modeling guide (the ixscale_guide tool), which describes the command language. This guide is for teaching a person to click.