Trim
Trim removes all material outside the edges of the selected boundary mesh, which serves as a cutting surface.
Using the Trim Feature
- Click the Trim tool
- The Trim dialog is added to the operations list
- Select the mesh to trim
- Select the Boundary mesh to serve as the cutting surface
The boundary mesh (imported design space) is shown here in orange, while the generated lattice is shown in green.
Lattice generation places the center of the strut on the boundary mesh surface, which means the strut is protruding from the boundary mesh by 1/2 the strut diameter.
When using the same input mesh that generated the strut lattice, as the boundary mesh, Trim will leave half of the strut inside your boundary and remove the outer half.
Note that when the Trim option is used in the Design Engine, you have a half-size strut. Smaller strut sizes may become too fragile for post-processing or for final performance.
Reference minimum strut size recommendations for best results.
The Extrude distance option allows you to extrude the trimmed surface outwards to create a flat strut surface on all sides of the lattice mesh.
This feature is similar to the Apply Base feature but achieves flat strut surfaces around the entire boundary.
In addition, the extrude distance feature allows you to specify the extrusion distance, whereas the base feature extrusion is always 1/2 the strut diameter.