> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ntop.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FE Lattice Mesh

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Graph, Geometric Order Enum, Scalar Field" href="#graph-geometric-order-enum-scalar-field" />

  <Card title="Lattice, Geometric Order Enum, Scalar Field" href="#lattice-geometric-order-enum-scalar-field" />
</CardGroup>

***

## About this Block

**What it does:** Generates an FE Mesh for beam based graph lattices. Lattice meshing takes less computation time than volume meshing and homogenization.

**Common uses:**

* Input in an **FE Component**.

**Tips:**

* This method dramatically reduces the number of elements from a typical volume mesh, but it ignores certain mechanical behavior like edge effects and stress concentrations in the lattice.
* Discretization takes a Lattice type as an input.
* The Geometric order can be Linear, where integration points are added at every mesh intersection, or Quadratic, where integration points are added at the midpoint of the mesh edges.
* Linear Geometric order is faster but less accurate.
* Quadratic Geometric order is slower but more accurate. We recommend this option if you are using the results downstream.
* Subdivision input will split the original beam into equal length subdivisions.

![latticemesh\_subdivison](https://storage.googleapis.com/files-learn/static/ExtendedBlockDocs/latticemesh_subdivison.png)

* Use **Trim Lattice** to make sure the lattice elements lie within the volume of the lattice structure. If you get a warning about short lattice beams, use **Collapse Lattice Vertices** with a threshold much lower than the unit cell size.

## Example File

Download Example:[FE Lattice Mesh](https://storage.googleapis.com/files-learn/static/ExtendedBlockDocs/fe_lattice_mesh.ntop)

![FE Lattice Mesh](https://storage.googleapis.com/files-learn/static/ExtendedBlockDocs/fe_lattice_mesh.png)

***

<h2 id="graph-geometric-order-enum-scalar-field">
  Graph, Geometric Order Enum, Scalar Field
</h2>

Converts a Graph lattice into an FE Mesh by adding integration points of the desired order to the Graph lattice geometry.

### Inputs

| Name            | Type                                                               | Description                                                                         |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Discretization  | [Graph](../../../../block-documentation/types/graph)               | The input geometric discretization.                                                 |
| Geometric order | Geometric Order Enum                                               | The geometric order of the finite elements.                                         |
| Subdivisions    | [Scalar Field](../../../../block-documentation/types/scalar-field) | Each beam in the Graph will be subdivided into the given number of finite elements. |

### Outputs

| Type                                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------- |
| [FE Mesh](../../../../block-documentation/types/fe-mesh) |

***

<h2 id="lattice-geometric-order-enum-scalar-field">
  Lattice, Geometric Order Enum, Scalar Field
</h2>

Converts a graph-based Lattice into an FE Mesh by adding integration points of the desired order to the Lattice geometry.

### Inputs

| Name            | Type                                                               | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Discretization  | [Lattice](../../../../block-documentation/types/lattice)           | The input geometric discretization.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Geometric order | Geometric Order Enum                                               | The geometric order of the finite elements.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Subdivisions    | [Scalar Field](../../../../block-documentation/types/scalar-field) | The number of finite elements that each beam in the Lattice will be subdivided into. If the provided Lattice is face-based, the faces will be remeshed with an updated average edge length equal to the current average edge length subdivided by the subdivisions input. |

### Outputs

| Type                                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------- |
| [FE Mesh](../../../../block-documentation/types/fe-mesh) |