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Pre-queue checklist with good vs bad Shell and Min wall figures.

The one lesson every serious FEA tool teaches: fix the setup before you refine the mesh. A beautiful solve of a wrong setup is still wrong.

Setup — get these right first

  • Length units match the CAD/STL scale (mm vs in is the classic foot-gun).
  • Geometry is a closed solid (STEP) or watertight manifold (STL).
  • Material assigned — E and ν should match the real alloy or polymer.
  • ≥1 Support and ≥1 Load; not the same face; load force > 0 N.
  • Load magnitude and direction match the real use case (500 N on a phone bracket ≠ 50 000 N).

Topology dials — before you spend credits

  • Preserve covers pads/holes you must keep; Obstacle clears bolt paths and keep-outs.
  • Raise Shell above Auto when bolt holes must stay thick (3–8 mm is a common bracket range) — see figures below.
  • Set Clearance on Obstacle faces when fasteners need real keep-out depth.
  • Set Min wall near your printable wall — Auto ≈ 1.5× voxel.
  • Design / envelope volume is intentional — credits and result scale grow with it (Design space).
  • Run Draft first when you are unsure of BCs (Quality).
  • For topology, leave Validation FEA on (Topology).

Hole / pad Shell — good vs bad

Shell 6 mm — collars stay solid and machinable
Good
Shell deep enough that locked faces keep manufacturable collars.
Auto (~½ voxel) — holes come back “eaten”
Avoid
Auto half-voxel shells come back as “eaten” holes after topology.

Full tagging map: Supports & loads.

Min wall — good vs bad

Min wall ≈ printable wall — continuous load paths
Good
Min wall near your printable wall keeps continuous load paths.
Min wall ≪ voxel — spindly members snap in print
Avoid
Min wall far below the voxel produces spindly members that break in print.

After the solve

  • Deformation direction matches intuition (gravity / load arrow).
  • Displacements and stresses are not absurd vs the material (order of magnitude check).
  • Topology is continuous — no floating islands of material.
  • Scrub density on Results (Density Explorer) — prefer one connected load path.
  • Stress peaks only at sharp corners / point loads are often mesh artifacts — do not treat them as certified allowables.
  • Re-inspect or re-run after export/smooth if you will machine or print from the result (Reading results).

Print / Additive

  • Min wall / lattice thickness is printable on your process.
  • Build direction and overhangs considered — even when the solver does not enforce them (Additive).
  • Export format matches the next tool (slicer STL/3MF vs CAD STEP) — Export.

Study Coach / Pre-check

After geometry loads, the setup rail shows a Fusion-style Pre-check: green checks, warnings, and blockers (supports, loads, material, envelope, load-vs-size, STL notes). Queue stays disabled while errors remain. On topology studies, Check with FEA first switches to Stress check — validate static before topology. Illustrated walkthrough: Pre-check & FEA first.

Honest peer comparison: Tools vs peers.

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