FluidCAD

The FluidCAD API provides a programmatic interface for 3D modeling through several functional categories:

• 2D Sketching: Create foundational geometry such as lines, circles, arcs, and rectangles.
• 3D Operations: Transform 2D sketches into 3D volumes using operations like extrude(), revolve(), loft(), sweep(), and boolean operations.
• Transforms: Manipulate existing geometry using translate(), rotate(), mirror(), copy(), and repeat().
• Utilities: Manage the scene using functions for selection, coloring, removal, and loading.

FluidCAD transforms 2D sketches into 3D geometry using several core operations. These operations are categorized by their function:

The FluidCAD viewport provides several controls for managing your code-driven 3D model. Key elements include:

• History Panel: Lists every feature (operation) in your model in order.
  • Rollback: Click a feature name to rollback the model to that point in history.
  • Breakpoints: Double-click a feature name to insert a breakpoint() at that feature.
  • Feature Status: A checkmark indicates the feature was served from cache; a refresh icon indicates it was re-computed.
• Shapes Panel: Lists all solid shapes produced by the model and provides shape properties (e.g., center of mass).
• Camera Controls: Toggle between Perspective camera (objects farther away appear smaller) and Orthographic camera (no perspective distortion), or use Fit model into view to reset the camera.
• Grid: Toggle the background grid on or off.

The wrap() function returns a Wrap object that allows you to control how the wrapped geometry interacts with the target face via method chaining:

1. Emboss (Default): Calling wrap(thickness, sketch, face) raises the sketch from the surface.
2. Deboss: Chain .remove() to sink the sketch into the surface: wrap(thickness, sketch, face).remove().
3. Standalone Pad: Chain .new() to prevent the wrapped geometry from merging with the target face: wrap(thickness, sketch, face).new().

// Example of embossing (default behavior)
wrap(2, mySketch, myCylindricalFace);

// Example of debossing (sinking into the surface)
wrap(2, mySketch, myCylindricalFace).remove();

// Example of creating a standalone wrapped pad
wrap(2, mySketch, myCylindricalFace).new();

By default, most FluidCAD features (like extrude(), shell(), cut(), and sweep()) consume their inputs. When a feature consumes an object, that geometry is removed from the scene to prevent accidental reuse in subsequent operations.

To prevent an object from being consumed, call .reusable() on it. This tells FluidCAD to keep the object alive in the scene so it can be used by multiple features.

.reusable() can be applied to:

• Sketch geometries: Individual shapes defined inside a sketch() block.
• Whole sketches: The object returned by the sketch(...) function.
• Selections: The object returned by select(...) (e.g., when using the same selection for both a sketch plane and a project() source).

While both modify edges, they serve different purposes:

• Use chamfer for manufacturing edge breaks. It is computationally faster and easier to specify from technical drawings.
• Use fillet when the part is being visually styled or when the round is structurally significant (e.g., for stress relief).

Choosing between repeat() and copy() depends on whether you want to re-execute a modeling operation or simply duplicate an existing shape.

Key Intuition: copy() duplicates a finished shape; repeat() re-executes a feature. Because repeat() re-runs the feature, it respects auto-fusion semantics (overlapping copies merge).

The cut() function operates in the opposite direction of extrude. While extrude adds material, cut removes it by moving into the solid.

• Positive distance: Cuts in the opposite direction of the sketch normal (moving into the solid the sketch sits on). This is the standard way to create a pocket.
• Negative distance: Cuts along the sketch normal (moving out of the side the sketch faces).
• No-argument cut(): Performs a through-all cut, which moves in the opposite direction of the sketch normal until it passes through the entire solid.

FluidCAD provides three primary constrained primitives to create geometry that is automatically tangent to existing sketch elements. Instead of manual calculations, you describe the relationship (tangency) and the solver computes the positions and angles.

• tLine(): Creates a line tangent to one or two objects.
• tArc(): Creates an arc tangent to objects, points, or the previous element.
• tCircle(): Creates a circle tangent to two objects.

import { tLine, tArc, tCircle } from 'fluidcad/constraints';

Many 3D operations in FluidCAD, such as translate(), accept a PointLike type. You can provide a 3D point using either a coordinate tuple or an object with named properties.

// Using a tuple [x, y, z]
translate([10, 20, 30]);

// Using an object { x, y, z }
translate({ x: 10, y: 20, z: 30 });