topic Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice in Fusion Support Forum

Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 09:55:40 GMT

Hello,

Recently, I created a volumetric lattice with one cell. Then I created a new body in the form of a cube overlaying the lattice. Now I wanted to perform CUT operation with target body as the cube and tool body as the lattice. However, I am getting error saying this operation cannot be performed. Any help would be appreciated.Lattice and cube

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TheCADWhisperer — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 10:58:03 GMT

@abaxy

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

What body types do you have?

Edit: Do you have a mesh body and a solid body?

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 05:20:45 GMT

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 05:21:06 GMT

Hi, the file can be accessed with the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XrW6lTwtqPT6kgoIOC-toPVcT-H7Igh4/view?usp=sharing

Regarding your questions:

I don't know if volumetric lattice operation creates a solid body or a mesh or surface. Sorry.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TheCADWhisperer — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 12:45:01 GMT

@abaxy wrote:
I don't know if volumetric lattice operation creates a solid body or a mesh or surface. Sorry.

Yeah, I couldn't figure it out either.

It seems to be undefined without the extension.
I don't have the Volumetric Extension - will have to see if I can get it to do some experimenting.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 13:02:07 GMT

Thanks! I have the academic version. So, I can access the feature for a limited time.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

jeff_strater — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:25:02 GMT

The lattice works correctly. You just have two bodies occupying the same space, one of which obscures the latticed body:

(view in My Videos)

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 06:20:45 GMT

Hi Jeff,

I am aware that the two solids occupy the same space. I want to use the CUT operation on these two bodies. Specifically, I want to cut the 'whole' cube ('target body') using the volumetric lattice as the 'tool body'. This is the operation I want help with.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TrippyLighting — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 10:02:16 GMT

The lattice geometry, under the hood, is mesh based. It does not interact with any of the other usual Fusion 360 modeling tools.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TheCADWhisperer — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:30:02 GMT

@TrippyLighting wrote:
The lattice geometry, under the hood, is mesh based. It does not interact with any of the other usual Fusion 360 modeling tools.

Can it be exported as a mesh body?

If yes, my idea was to bring it back into Fusion as a mesh body.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

jeff_strater — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 22:34:19 GMT

@TrippyLighting wrote:

The lattice geometry, under the hood, is mesh based. It does not interact with any of the other usual Fusion 360 modeling tools.

This is not precisely true. Lattice geometry is volumetric. It is not mesh based. But the result is the same, it does not interact with other geometry (BRep, T-SPlines, or mesh). So, you cannot subtract it from BRep geometry.

@abaxy : "I want to use the CUT operation on these two bodies. Specifically, I want to cut the 'whole' cube ('target body') using the volumetric lattice as the 'tool body'"

But, why do you want to do this? Are you just trying to get the inverse of the lattice? For what reason? If so I suspect that there is a way to modify the lattice to get the inverse of what you have there, but it may take the advanced UI to get there. I am not an expert on this, though.

Yes, you can export the lattice as a mesh. In this simple case, it would be a reasonable sized mesh, but if you want to use it on a larger model, or a more dense lattice, that mesh will likely be huge. And, you still won't be able to subtract it, because mesh geometry and solid geometry are not compatible, either. You can convert the mesh to a BRep, using the "faceted" method, but I would not recommend that, because it would be very slow, and the resulting BRep will also be very slow.

Perhaps if we understood your ultimate goal, we could describe a way to get there.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 04:53:39 GMT

Dear Jeff,
Yes, I want to get an inverse lattice. Can you redirect this query to someone who knows a way to achieve this? Or tag some experts.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TrippyLighting — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 07:58:23 GMT

@jeff_strater wrote:

@TrippyLighting wrote:

The lattice geometry, under the hood, is mesh based. It does not interact with any of the other usual Fusion 360 modeling tools.

This is not precisely true. Lattice geometry is volumetric. It is not mesh based.

Aha, interesting. Thanks for the feedback!

@jeff_strater wrote:

But the result is the same, it does not interact with other geometry (BRep, T-SPlines, or mesh). So, you cannot subtract it from BRep geometry.

Yep, that I was aware of 😉

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TrippyLighting — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 08:01:31 GMT

@abaxy wrote:
Yes, I want to get an inverse lattice.

Understood. the question was: why? What is the ultimate goal?

@abaxy wrote:
Can you redirect this query to someone who knows a way to achieve this? Or tag some experts.

As the director of software development, Jeff is the expert. However, he has limited influence on what features are getting implemented and when.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

abaxy — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:13:26 GMT

Academic interest is the reason. I have just started exploring AutoDesk Fusion.

Re: Unable to use CUT operation with volumetric lattice

TrippyLighting — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:11:06 GMT

What physical artifact are you trying to create?

How do you intend to manufacture it?

What is the purpose of the physical artifact?