Guides

Design space

Stress check / Lighten this part / Design in a box — which tools apply.

Three Study types, three different jobs. Pick in Setup (or the viewport picker) — the available tools change with the type.

Stress check maps the part as-is; Lighten this part carves the solid you uploaded; Design in a box grows a new shape inside an envelope.

Stress check

Linear-static stress / displacement on the uploaded solid — no topology. Use it to prove Supports, Loads, and material before you optimize. Shell, Clearance, Min wall, and Symmetry are disabled here (nothing to freeze or filter).

Lighten this part (default)

Take material out of the CAD you uploaded. Keep % is how much of that solid stays. Preserve locks pads; Obstacle carves keep-outs. Use chrome controls:

Shell — freeze depth for Support / Load / Preserve faces.
Clearance — Obstacle keep-out depth.
Min wall — smallest member the optimizer will keep (set near your printable min wall).
Symmetry — optional axis-aligned mirror.

Design in a box

Grow a new shape inside a box (or free space from solids). Preserve bodies stay solid; empty space in the box is where material can appear. Bigger box → more credits — oversized boxes waste spend. Same Shell / Clearance / Min wall / Symmetry tools as Lighten this part.

Auto box / Edit box / From solids + pad %.
Study Coach blocks Queue until the envelope is valid.
Whole-body Preserve/Obstacle flood-fill ignores Shell/Clearance mm (volume fill).

Multi-body STEP

Tag whole bodies preserve or keep-out. Adjacent preserve components can auto-tie so assemblies share load paths without a separate contact solver.

Next: Topology · Supports & loads · Quality.

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