F13LD.wave
Triply-periodic surfaces built from superposed 3D standing waves — cymatics in a unit cell. A bank of wave modes is summed, and the nodal surface of the combined field becomes the lattice.
What it generates.
F13LD.wave sums a set of 3D standing waves and takes the nodal surface of the result as a periodic surface, which is then given thickness. The surfaces are smooth and fully connected, like a TPMS, but the shape is set by the chosen modes rather than a fixed equation.
Use it to explore TPMS-like surfaces beyond the named families by adding and tuning wave modes directly. For the canonical surfaces from their equations, see tpms; for strut lattices, see beam.
Standing waves and nodal surfaces.
Each mode is a 3D standing wave with integer wavenumbers (n, m, p), an amplitude A, and a phase φ. The field is the sum of the modes in the bank, and the surface is its nodal set — the points where the summed field is zero — which is automatically periodic.
A Symmetry setting restricts the bank to mode combinations that share a cubic symmetry, which is why a few well-chosen modes reproduce gyroid- and Schwarz-like surfaces. The nodal-surface idea is shared with the rest of the suite — see level sets & topology.
Worked example: a wave surface.
Load a preset
Pick a Preset to fill the mode bank with a known set of modes, and choose a Symmetry. The preset gives you a working surface to adjust from.
Tune the mode bank
In the Mode Bank, add or edit modes — each row is wavenumbers n m p, amplitude A, and phase φ. Adding a mode changes the surface; amplitude sets how much it contributes.
Set topology and iso
Choose mode Solid or Sheet, then set iso and thickness to fix the volume fraction. cell scale and phase ωt shift the surface within the cell.
Check the stiffness
Set grid, parent Eₛ and ν, and Run homogenization to read the effective stiffness. Use tiling 1×/2×/3× to inspect how cells join.
Hand it off
Export JSON, or Open in F13LD.mesh to send the recipe to meshing.
Each control has an i in the tool that opens its reference entry. This page is the walkthrough; the in-tool guide documents what every control does.
Presets.
Mode-bank starting points to load and adjust.
Three modes at equal amplitude under cubic symmetry; reproduces a gyroid-type surface.
One dominant mode; parallel sheets, strongly anisotropic.
A mode set with even symmetry, giving P-surface character.
Any preset in Sheet topology for a thin shell instead of a solid.
Export and handoff.
F13LD.wave exports a recipe JSON — the mode bank and its parameters, not a mesh. The recipe is the suite's shared format: vault stores it and sweep varies it.
Open in F13LD.mesh passes the recipe to mesh, which rebuilds the surface and exports a watertight 3MF.