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Lattice Structures fills the volume of a 3D model with a porous, repeating lattice to prepare it for 3D printing. Use it to make a part lighter and use less material while keeping a load-bearing inner structure. The panel has a live preview, so you can check the structure before you apply it. To create a separate block of lattice without a model, use Generate Lattices from the drop-down list of the same button.
How to open Lattice Structures
- Select exactly one mesh in the Scene tree. The mesh must be watertight, without holes and degenerate triangles, and must have one component or two nested components of different orientation (a hollow model).
- Click Mesh Edit › Lattice Structures.
If the mesh has holes or degenerate triangles, the tool does not open and shows Requires offset-prepared, watertight geometry and no self-intersections. Use Mesh Healer before applying Lattice Structures. Repair such a mesh with Mesh Healer first. If the mesh has more than two components, the tool shows Requires either single component or two nested components of different orientation.
Section opens together with the tool, with a cutting plane through the model, because the lattice is inside the model and you see it only in a cross-section. Section closes when you close Lattice Structures.
Filling Mode
Filling Mode determines which part of the model’s volume is filled with the lattice. MeshInspector chooses it from the number of components: Inside for a mesh with one component, Inner for a mesh with two. You can switch between the modes only for a mesh with two components.
Inside
With Inside, the lattice is generated throughout the entire internal volume of the model, as shown below.
Inside is also available for a hollow mesh with two components. The picture below shows the result on such a mesh, made with Offset before.
Inner
Inner is for a hollow model: an outer shell and a second shell nested inside it with the opposite orientation, such as the result of Offset in the Thickening mode with a negative value, or of Hollow/Thicken. The lattice is generated in the cavity bounded by the inner shell, not in the whole volume of the model, and the result keeps the outer shell. You can see the number of components of a mesh in Components in the Information panel.
Kind
Kind defines the type of lattice structure used to fill the model: TPMS or Cellular (the default).
TPMS
TPMS (Triply Periodic Minimal Surface) creates a smooth continuous surface that repeats in 3D space and divides the volume into interwoven regions. That is, it forms an organic-looking porous structure that distributes material evenly. As such, it is well suited for lightweight parts and uniform stress distribution.
Cellular
Cellular creates beam-based lattices. Instead of smooth surfaces, the interior is built from connected repeating beams forming a grid. This produces a more mechanical reinforcement structure where stiffness and rigidity are controlled by beam spacing and thickness.
Settings with TPMS
TPMS Surface Types
If TPMS is selected as your Kind, you can choose one of four options in Surface type. Each defines how the continuous minimal surface is shaped inside the volume and therefore how material is distributed.
- Rectangular. A Schwarz-P surface: a grid-like periodic minimal surface with regular openings.
- Thick Rectangular. A Schwarz-P surface with thick walls.
- Double Gyroid. An interwoven minimal surface consisting of two intertwined channels.
- Thick Gyroid. A gyroid with thick walls.
Other Options with TPMS
Approx. Density is the approximate share of the volume filled with material. Higher values produce a denser structure with less empty space, while lower values create a lighter and more porous interior. Changing it changes Iso.
Interval defines the scale of the repeating lattice pattern. Smaller values generate a finer structure with smaller cells, while larger values create bigger cells and reduce material usage.
Quality Preset controls the resolution of lattice generation. Higher presets produce smoother and more accurate geometry but require more computation time and memory. Lower presets calculate faster but generate a coarser structure. You can choose between Low, Standard, and High.
The Advanced section provides more precise control over how the TPMS lattice is generated and optimized. These parameters affect both the physical properties of the structure and the computational cost.
Iso is the iso value used to construct the surface; it changes the amount of material in the lattice.
Decimate reduces the number of triangles of the generated filling surface.
Quality defines the resolution of the surface approximation. Increasing this parameter improves smoothness and accuracy but increases computation time and memory usage. It provides more granular control than Quality Preset, which updates automatically when Quality is adjusted.
Components shows the number of connected components when the preview is on. A large number here indicates that the current configuration of the filling might be incorrect.
Number of voxels displays how many voxels are used internally to build the TPMS structure. Higher values provide finer detail but require more resources and longer processing time.
Preview lets you toggle what is displayed before applying the operation:
- Off means no preview
- Filling shows only the generated lattice
- Result shows the final combined mesh.
Once satisfied with the configuration, click Apply to generate the lattice structure. The result replaces the mesh of the same object. If the parameters need too much memory, Apply is unavailable and MeshInspector shows The requested parameters require too much memory. Consider lowering the quality, increasing the interval or density.
Settings with Cellular
Cellular Surface Types
If Cellular is selected as your Kind, the interior is generated as a framework of repeating beams instead of a continuous surface. This type behaves more like a mechanical reinforcement grid: strength depends on beam thickness and spacing rather than wall curvature.
You can choose one of two beam types:
- Cylinder. A lattice made of cylindrical beams connected at nodes.
- Rectangle. A lattice made of rectangular beams connected at nodes.
Other Options with Cellular
Interval (for both Cylinder and Rectangle) defines the spacing between repeating beam cells. Smaller values create a denser reinforcement grid, while larger values produce wider cells and reduce material usage.
Radius (Cylinder) defines the thickness of cylindrical beams. Increasing it strengthens the structure but increases weight and material consumption; decreasing it makes the lattice lighter but less rigid.
Width (Rectangle) defines the thickness of rectangular beams. Increasing it makes the structure stronger and heavier, while decreasing it makes the lattice lighter but less rigid.
Spheres (Cellular only) adds spheres at the intersections of the beams, at the cost of more material and weight.
Sphere Radius controls the size of these spheres.
With Cellular, Approx. Density is a read-only estimate computed from Interval, Radius or Width and Sphere Radius. Components and Preview work the same way as with TPMS.
By combining different filling modes and lattice types, you can adapt the internal structure of a model to match specific strength, weight, and manufacturing requirements.
Generate Lattices
Generate Lattices creates a separate block of lattice, without a model: for example, to test how the lattice looks with given settings, or to use the block as a part of another model. To open it, click the arrow next to Mesh Edit › Lattice Structures and choose Generate Lattices. You do not need to select a mesh.
The panel has the same Kind, Surface type and lattice settings as Lattice Structures (the default is Cellular with Cylinder beams), plus the settings of the block:
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Create Voxels | Only for TPMS: creates the result as a voxel object instead of a mesh. | Off |
| Set number of repetitions | When on, X, Y and Z set the number of lattice cells along each axis. When off, they set the size of the block. | On |
| X, Y, Z | The number of cells or the size of the block along each axis. | 10, 10, 10 |
| Preview | Shows the block in the scene and rebuilds it after each change. | Off |
Click Apply to add the block to the Scene tree as a new object named Filling. With Preview on, MeshInspector rebuilds the block in the main window after every change and does not respond until it is ready; a large block with a fine Quality can take a long time, so set the size and quality first and turn on Preview last.
