nTopology 3.10 is here! This release features a new CAD Body from Mesh (beta) block that results in 4 to 10 times fewer CAD faces compared to the current block, which means significantly lighter part file sizes. We’ve updated the Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (beta) block, so that you can now sharpen a mesh only using this block and a new overload which provides you with more advanced options. In addition, we’ve introduced a new feature called Manual Run Mode, which gives you the ability to prevent specific blocks from running if upstream changes are made. As with every release, nTopology’s dedicated support team is ready to answer your questions. Please visit support.ntopology.com to gain access to helpful tutorials and support articles.

• New CAD Body from Mesh (Beta) Block

• Updates to Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (Beta) Block

• Manual Run Mode

• Usage Improvements

• Bug Fixes

New CAD Body from Mesh (Beta) Block

• In 3.10, we released into beta a new CAD Body from Mesh block. The beta block has an improved algorithm that results in 4 to 10 times fewer CAD faces compared to the current algorithm. In addition, users no longer need to specify a Refinement level.
• Note: The production version of this block can still be found via the ribbon by navigating to Utilities > Conversion > CAD Body from Mesh. If you search for this block via the search bar, the Beta block will appear as the only result. The production version can also be found via the overloads drop down menu of the new beta block.
• Name: CAD Body from Mesh (Beta)
• Location: Beta > Utilities - Conversion
• Description: Creates a CAD Body from a quad Mesh.
• Input 01: Mesh
  • Type: Mesh
  • Description: Mesh to convert to a CAD body.
• Output: CAD Body

Result from current block:

Result from new CAD Body from Mesh (Beta) block:

Boolean union with frame performed in CAD:

Updates to Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (Beta) Block

• We released updates to the Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (Beta) block in 3.10. The block has been updated to include additional inputs as well as an overload, providing users with a simple yet robust default interface, and more advanced options when needed. You now have the ability to sharpen a Mesh directly in the Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (Beta) block, removing the need for the The Sharpen Mesh (Beta) block that was released in 3.8. Sharpen Mesh (Beta) has been deprecated.
• An optional minimum feature size input has been added for you to specify the size of the smallest feature that should be preserved during the conversion. This allows you to filter out any small feature(s) or thin edges present in the Implicit Body that should not be part of the Mesh.
• The advanced overload exposes two additional inputs: sharpening iterations & sharpening extents.
• Increasing the number of sharpening iterations will produce a sharper result, but will increase the block’s runtime. We recommend a value between 1 and 10.
• The sharpen extents input gives you the ability to limit sharpening to a particular region of the mesh.
• Name: Mesh from Implicit Body by Voxels (Beta)
• Location: Beta > Utilities - Conversion
• Default overload:
  • Description: Creates a Mesh from an Implicit Body. Preserve sharp features by choosing the Sharpen option. Reduce the triangle count of the final result by choosing the Simplify option. Switch to the block overload for more inputs including Sharpening iterations and a region to localize sharpening.
• Input 01: Body
  • Type: Implicit Body
  • Description: Implicit Body to convert.
  • Required
• Input 02: Tolerance
  • Type: Scalar
  • Description: The maximum allowable deviation between the Mesh and the surface of the Implicit Body. If you reduce this value, the resulting mesh will be more precise, but the block will take longer to compute.
  • Required
• Input 03: Min. feature size
  • Type: Scalar
  • Description: The approximate size of the smallest feature(s) of the Implicit Body that should be preserved during the conversion. If you input a value greater than 0, features that are smaller than the value will be filtered out and not included in the final result. Leaving the default value of 0 indicates that all features should be preserved.
  • Required
• Input 04: Sharpen
  • Type: Bool
  • Description: Option to preserve sharp edges and vertices. If you choose this option, the block will take longer to compute.
  • Required
• Input 05: Simplify
  • Type: Bool
  • Description: Option to reduce the triangle count as much as possible without violating the given tolerance criterion.
  • Required

Advanced overload additional inputs:

• Input 06: Sharpen iterations
  • Type: Integer
  • Description: Number of sharpening iterations. A higher number will produce a sharper result, but will increase the runtime. We recommend values from 1 to 10.
  • Required
• Input 07:Sharpen extents
  • Type: Implicit Body
  • Description: Optional Implicit Body defining the extent of sharpening. Use this input to limit sharpening to a particular region of the mesh.
  • Optional

Manual Run Mode

• We’ve introduced a new feature in nTopology called “Manual Run Mode”, which provides you with the ability to explicitly prevent a block from running automatically. This feature gives you the opportunity to make a series of iterative upstream changes to your notebook without automatically running downstream blocks which could be computationally expensive and time consuming.
• To apply Manual Run Mode to a block, right click and select Manual Run Mode. This will activate the feature and a flag displaying a pause icon will appear on the exterior of the block. If you hover over the pause icon, a tooltip will appear reading “Manual Run Mode”. 

• Make a change to a block upstream that is connected to the block you applied the Manual Run Mode to downstream. Once the upstream block has been changed, the block with the Manual Run Mode applied to it will change its icon to a play button.

• If multiple blocks have the Manual Run Mode applied to them and they are interconnected to one another in the notebook, you can either Run each block one at a time or you can choose to Run the most downstream block, which will trigger all upstream blocks to Run too.

Usage Improvements

• With GPU acceleration enabled, implicits are no longer clipped by their bounding boxes while interactively changing their values. The image below demonstrates this improvement. To enable GPU acceleration, which is currently in Beta, go to File > Settings > General and check “Enable GPU acceleration (beta)”. 

• Properties are now available on the Displacement Restraint, Point Restraint, and Temperature Restraint blocks to provide easy access to the underlying FE Boundary, or mesh surface the restraint is applied, as well as the components of the enforced displacement or temperature.
• For single component simulations, it is no longer necessary to create an FE Model before proceeding to an analysis. You can provide all analysis blocks an FE Component directly, saving a step in the overall workflow.

Bug Fixes

• We’ve resolved an issue found in 3.9 where the Sort block was not properly sorting scalar lists.
• We’ve updated the Extrude Profile block so that render normals are no longer inaccurate.
• We’ve resolved an issue found in 3.9 with GPU Acceleration enabled where nTopology would unexpectedly hang and then exit if a GPU view was cancelled via the progress bar.