Object Types

Every element in a deFlex scene is a scene object. Each object has a type (and sometimes a subtype) that determines its behavior. This page documents every object type, its properties, and how it is used by the solver.

Common properties

All scene objects share these base properties:

Property	Description
Unique ID	An automatically assigned identifier for every object.
Type	The kind of object: Part, Preserve, Path, Preserve Pair, Obstacle, Analysis, Solver Job, or Solver Result.
Name	User-visible display name (editable).
Visible	Whether the object appears in the viewport.
Locked	Whether the object is protected from editing.
Parent	The parent object in the scene tree hierarchy (if any).
Created / Modified	Timestamps showing when the object was created and last changed.
Tags	User-defined tags for organization.

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Parts

Parts define geometry in the scene. They serve as design domains, preserve regions, and obstacle volumes.

Rectangle Part

2D rectangular primitive. The primary design domain for 2D analyses.

Property	Default	Description
Position	(0, 0, 0)	Position in world space (mm).
Rotation	None	Orientation of the rectangle.
Scale	(1, 1, 1)	Scale factors.
Width	10 mm	Width in the X direction. Must be greater than 0.
Height	10 mm	Height in the Y direction. Must be greater than 0.
Center X	On	When on, the position marks the horizontal center. When off, it marks the left edge.
Center Y	On	When on, the position marks the vertical center. When off, it marks the bottom edge.
Material	--	Visual appearance (color, metalness, roughness).

Box Part

3D box primitive. The primary design domain for 3D analyses.

Property	Default	Description
Width	10 mm	X dimension.
Depth	10 mm	Y dimension.
Height	10 mm	Z dimension.
Center X	On	Center along X.
Center Y	On	Center along Y.
Center Z	Off	When off, the bottom face sits on the XY plane (Z = 0).

STEP Part

Imported STEP (ISO 10303) CAD file.

Property	Description
Filename	The original filename shown in the scene tree.
Placement	Position, rotation, offset, and uniform scale of the imported geometry.
Cross-section polygons	Optional 2D cross-section outlines extracted from the STEP geometry.

STL Part

Imported STL mesh file.

Property	Description
Filename	The original filename shown in the scene tree.
Placement	Position, rotation, offset, and uniform scale of the imported mesh.

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Paths

Paths define motion or force directions. Preserves reference a linked path to specify which direction force or displacement acts.

Linear Path

Straight-line direction vector anchored to a part.

Property	Description
Direction	Direction vector in mm. The magnitude may encode force or displacement.
Stroke color	Color of the path arrow in the viewport.
Stroke width	Thickness of the path arrow in the viewport.

Rotational Path

Rotation about an axis through a part.

Property	Description
Axis	Rotation axis direction. For 2D scenes this is always perpendicular to the working plane.
Angle	Rotation angle in degrees.
Center offset	Offset from the parent part center to the rotation center.
Clockwise	Whether the rotation is clockwise (default is counter-clockwise).

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Preserves

Preserves define boundary conditions for the solver. Each preserve applies a constraint to a region of the design domain.

Input Preserve

Where force is applied. Colored by the active theme in the viewport.

Property	Default	Description
Linked part	--	The part geometry this preserve covers.
Linked path	--	The path defining the force direction.
Force magnitude	None	Force in Newtons (optional).
Analysis input mode	Displacement	How the solver derives the input: from the path displacement or from a direct force value.
Perpendicular stiffness	Off	Constrain stiffness perpendicular to motion.
Min perpendicular stiffness	None	Minimum perpendicular stiffness in N/mm, when perpendicular stiffness is enabled.

Output Preserve

Where desired motion occurs. Colored by the active theme in the viewport.

Property	Default	Description
Linked part	--	The part geometry this preserve covers.
Linked path(s)	--	One or more paths defining the desired output motion direction. Multi-path designs can assign several paths to a single output.
Target displacement	None	Desired displacement in mm (optional constraint).
Perpendicular stiffness	Off	Constrain perpendicular stiffness.

Fixed Preserve

Stationary anchor region. Colored by the active theme in the viewport.

Property	Default	Description
Linked part	--	The part geometry this preserve anchors.
Fixed mode	Volume	How the region is constrained: Volume fixes the entire part, while Faces lets you select individual faces on imported STEP geometry.
Selected faces	None	The specific faces to fix, when fixed mode is set to Faces.

Boundary Fixed Preserve

Fixes domain boundaries instead of part geometry. Color: red.

Property	Default	Description
Fixed sides	--	Which domain boundaries to fix. In 2D: left, right, top, bottom. In 3D: additionally front and back.

Boundary fixed preserves do not reference a part or path -- they apply directly to the edges or faces of the design domain.

Deformation Function Preserve

Defines output deformation as a mathematical function (sine wave, polynomial, or custom expression) applied to an edge or face of the design domain. Color: yellow.

Property	Default	Description
Edge	--	Which 2D edge the function is applied to: top, bottom, left, or right.
Face	None	For 3D scenes, which face the function is applied to (overrides edge): front, back, left, right, top, or bottom.
Function type	Sine	The type of deformation function: Sine, Polynomial, or Custom.
Amplitude	1.0 mm	Sine wave amplitude.
Wavelength	10.0 mm	Sine wavelength.
Phase	0.0 rad	Sine phase offset in radians.
Undeformed curve	None	Advanced: parametric curve defining the undeformed shape.
Deformed curve	None	Advanced: parametric curve defining the target deformed shape.

Flexure IO Preserve

Combined input/output for flexure optimization. Color: purple.

Property	Default	Description
Linked part	--	The part geometry this preserve covers.
Linked path	None	Optional path defining the motion direction.
Active degrees of constraint	First DOC only	Which degrees of constraint are enabled for this preserve.

The maximum strain energy limit is set at the analysis level, not per-preserve. See Flexure Analysis.

Flexure IO preserves appear in the I/O section of the scene tree.

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Preserve Pairs

Preserve pairs group inputs and outputs for decoupled force-motion analysis. They enable multi-input, multi-output mechanism design where specific inputs drive specific outputs.

Property	Default	Description
Linked inputs	--	The input preserves belonging to this pair.
Linked outputs	--	The output preserves driven by these inputs.
Output paths	None	For multi-path designs, a specific path can be assigned to each output.
Stiffness constraint mode	Maximum	Maximum sets an upper bound on the characteristic stiffness (K_p). Function lets you prescribe a stiffness profile expression.
Maximum stiffness (K_p)	10.0 N/mm	The K_p upper bound when the mode is set to Maximum.
Stiffness expression	--	The prescribed K_p profile expression when the mode is set to Function.

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Obstacles

Obstacles define keep-out zones where the optimizer cannot place material.

Property	Default	Description
Linked part	None	The part whose geometry defines the obstacle shape (box, rectangle, STEP, or STL).
Convex hull vertices	None	Vertex coordinates for convex-hull-based obstacles.
Invert hull	On	When on, the region outside the hull is treated as the obstacle. When off, the region inside the hull is the obstacle.
Color	Dark orange	Visual color in the viewport.
Opacity	0.5	Visual transparency.

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Analysis objects

Analysis objects store solver configuration. The following analysis types exist:

Analysis Type	Description
Compliant 2D	2D compliant mechanism. See Compliant 2D.
Compliant 3D	3D compliant mechanism. See Compliant 3D.
Flexure	Flexure optimization. See Flexure.
Decoupled Flexure	Decoupled flexure. See Decoupled Flexure.
Metamaterials	Metamaterial cell optimization. See Metamaterials.
Thermal-Compliant	Thermal-compliant mechanism (combined thermal and optimization stages).
Planar Decomposition	Planar decomposition. See Planar Decomposition.

Analysis objects hold all the solver parameters documented in Solver Parameters. They are the "blueprint" for a solver run. Running an analysis creates a Solver Job child object that tracks execution progress.

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Solver Job

Tracks a single execution of an analysis.

Property	Description
Status	Current state: Queued, Running, Completed, Failed, or Cancelled.
Progress	Completion percentage (0 -- 100%).
Total iterations	The planned number of iterations for this run.
Current iteration	How many iterations have completed so far.
Started at	Timestamp when solving began.
Completed at	Timestamp when solving finished.
Error	Error message shown when the job has failed.

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Solver Result

Each iteration of a solver run produces a Solver Result object. The final iteration typically contains the converged design and full convergence data. Each result is a child of its parent Solver Job.

Property	Description
Iteration	Iteration number (starting from 0).
Result mesh	The optimized geometry for this iteration, displayed in the viewport. Mesh files are stored in the cloud and loaded on demand.
Compliance	Compliance (performance metric) value -- lower means stiffer.
Volume fraction	Actual material usage fraction at this iteration.
Max stress	Peak Von Mises stress in MPa.
Design change	How much the material layout changed compared to the previous iteration.
K_p values	Characteristic stiffness (K_p) for each preserve pair (if applicable).
Convergence data	Full convergence history across all iterations. Only populated on the final iteration.
Convergence status	Whether the solver converged, failed, or reached the maximum number of iterations.
Design domain position	Position offset and dimensions of the design domain (width, height, and depth for 3D) used for placing the mesh in the viewport.

Displacement animation data

Final-iteration results may include displacement field data for deformation animation:

Data	Description
Displacement field	Nodal displacement values used to animate the mesh deformation.
Mesh nodes	Node coordinate data for the solver mesh.
Node material values	Material values averaged at each node, used for visualization filtering.
Stress field	Von Mises stress values across the mesh (in MPa).
Maximum stress	The peak Von Mises stress, used as the upper bound for the stress color scale.

Result variants

Solver results may be tagged to indicate specialized post-processing:

Variant	Description
Structural reanalysis	Result from a structural reanalysis (not design optimization).
Single-cell analysis	Single-cell analysis result for metamaterial qualification.
Full metamaterial	Tiled full-metamaterial visualization.
Thermal	Result from the thermal post-processing stage.
Strain analysis	Strain analysis companion result.
Test mechanism	Result from a test mechanism run.

Export

Solver results support several export actions from the properties panel:

• Download STL -- the mesh geometry. See Export Results.
• Download STEP -- server-side conversion to a CAD-native STEP solid.
• Export Demo Bundle (admin) -- STL, displacement data, and metadata for landing-page demos.