Skip to content
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Boundaries, Cavities, and Details

Boundaries, cavities, and details are the three modifiers that let you shape the ADMS beyond simple density and thickness control. Each one solves a different design problem. This article explains what each does and when to reach for it.

 Overview

Modifier

What it does

Typical use case

Boundary

Grows and thickens ADMS toward a surface. Controls labyrinth opening/closing at part faces.

Structural skins at load-bearing surfaces, sealing labyrinth openings at inlet/outlet faces, smooth blending at mating interfaces.

Cavity

Introduces a void region into the ADMS structure.

Inlet and outlet openings for heat exchangers, internal channel clearances, mounting feature keep-out zones.

Detail

Adds or subtracts a closed solid body from the ADMS result.

Threaded inserts, attachment flanges, embossed text, sensor housings, any hard-edged feature the ADMS should not distort.

 

Boundary

A boundary is a mesh surface or solid face that tells Spherene to thicken the ADMS geometry toward that location. Instead of the ADMS ending abruptly at the envelope surface, the boundary creates a smooth transition zone that grows into a structural skin.

What boundaries do

  • Hull: grow a solid wall region at the boundary surface. Controlled by Hull Thickness.
  • Blend: transition the ADMS smoothly into the hull over a defined distance. Controlled by Blend Distance and Blend Exponent.
  • Labyrinth control: open or close the labyrinth openings at the boundary face. Use to seal inlet/outlet faces on heat exchangers or to create a clean mating surface on structural parts.

Key settings

Setting

What it controls

Recommended starting point

Hull Thickness

Wall thickness of the solid skin region at the boundary.

Match or slightly exceed your target skin thickness. Typical: 0.8 to 2.0 mm.

Blend Distance

Distance over which ADMS transitions into the boundary hull.

Minimum 2x your DRT value. Too short causes abrupt visual transitions.

Blend Exponent

Shape of the blend transition curve.

0.5 (default) for most cases. 0.25 for tighter transitions. 1.0 for a straight 45-degree ramp.

Apply on Front / Back

Whether the front labyrinth, back labyrinth, or both are closed at the boundary face.

Use to seal the specific labyrinth that opens at an inlet or outlet face.

Note: If you see boolean errors at a boundary, set Hull Negative Normal to False. This allows blending in both normal directions and resolves most tight-boundary failures.

 

Cavity

A cavity introduces a void region into the ADMS structure. The ADMS geometry is pushed away from the cavity geometry, creating an empty zone of the defined shape.

Two types of cavity geometry

  • Open surface: voids only the region directly adjacent to the surface. The void does not extend through the full volume.
  • Closed body: removes the entire volume occupied by the body from the ADMS. Use for inlet/outlet ports, mounting bosses, or any region that must be completely free of ADMS geometry.

Front and back labyrinth selection

Every cavity is applied to either the front labyrinth, the back labyrinth, or both. This is important for heat exchanger design where the inlet of one fluid channel must not intersect the other.

Tip: For a heat exchanger with a square inlet port, create a box body slightly larger than the port opening and apply it as a cavity to the front labyrinth only. This creates a clean, open entry point for the hot fluid without disturbing the cold fluid channel.

 

Detail

A detail is a closed solid body that is either added to or subtracted from the Spherene geometry after computation. Use it for features that need hard, precise edges that the ADMS geometry would otherwise distort: threaded sections, attachment flanges, connector interfaces, embossed text.

Add vs subtract

  • Add: the detail body is merged into the ADMS result. Spherene blends the ADMS into the detail body with controllable blend distance and exponent. The detail retains its original geometry while the ADMS transitions smoothly into it.
  • Subtract: the detail body volume is removed from the ADMS result. Use for holes, channels, slots, or any keep-out zone that must be geometrically precise.

Note: When subtracting, the detail body should protrude slightly beyond the surface it intersects. If the detail is flush or slightly recessed, the boolean subtraction may fail on complex geometry.