PolyFEMBlenderPlugin

1. Overview

polyfem/__init__.py registers one panel, the property groups and the operators. On registration it also installs meshio with pip into Blender’s user modules folder.

• polyfem/panels/polyfem_json.py draws the PolyFEM panel in the Physics tab of the Properties editor: execution mode (Docker or executable) for PolyFEM and TetWild, the selected objects with their materials and export format, then collapsible sections for export, contact, time, space, boundary conditions, materials, solver and output settings.
• polyfem/operators/create_polyfem_json.py exports each mesh (STL, OBJ, or MSH through TetWild) and writes the PolyFEM JSON file with geometry, materials, contact, time, boundary_conditions, solver and output blocks.
• polyfem/operators/run_polyfem.py starts PolyFEM in a background thread, either docker run antoinebou12/polyfem --json /data/<file> with the project folder mounted on /data, or a local executable. Its Render Animation operator reads the step_*.vtu results, adds the solution displacement, converts each step to OBJ with meshio and keyframes the visibility of each imported mesh.
• polyfem/properties/polyfem.py holds the settings, including material presets (steel, copper, aluminium and others), integrators (implicit Euler, explicit Euler, implicit Newmark) and Eigen linear solvers.

3. Getting started

The README installs the add-on from a zip of the polyfem/ folder: Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install, then enable PolyFem. Blender 4.2 or later is required by blender_manifest.toml. The default execution mode uses Docker:

docker pull yixinhu/tetwild:latest
docker pull antoinebou12/polyfem:latest

The CI workflow builds the extension package with Blender’s own command:

blender --command extension build --source-dir polyfem --output-dir docs
blender --command extension server-generate --repo-dir=docs --html

4. Repository guide

• polyfem/ is the extension itself (blender_manifest.toml, __init__.py, operators/, panels/, properties/).
• polyfem/operators/create_polyfem_json.py handles mesh export, TetWild, materials, Docker image pulls and the JSON file.
• polyfem/operators/run_polyfem.py runs PolyFEM, imports results, opens the PolyFEM documentation and clears the cache.
• polyfem/properties/polyfem.py defines every panel field and preset.
• .github/workflows/build.yml builds the extension zip and an extension repository index (docs/index.json), then deploys docs/ to the gh-pages branch.
• docs/ holds built packages polyfem-1.0.10.zip and polyfem-1.0.11.zip with their index.
• zip-plugin.py and download-wheels.py are helper scripts to zip the add-on and download wheels for meshio, trimesh and tetgen.

5. Features

• Assign elastic material properties (E, ν, ρ) to objects from presets or custom values.
• Export meshes to STL or OBJ, or tetrahedralize them to MSH with TetWild in Docker or as a local executable.
• Set contact (dhat, friction coefficient, epsv), time integration, boundary-condition method and right-hand side, linear solver and ParaView output options.
• Write a complete PolyFEM JSON file, with optional export of selected objects only.
• Run PolyFEM through Docker or a local executable without blocking the Blender interface.
• Import VTU time steps back as a keyframed mesh sequence.

6. Limits

• The README calls the add-on experimental and lists crashes with complex geometry and mesh-export edge cases as known issues.
• The panel is registered in the Properties editor’s Physics tab, while the README describes a 3D Viewport sidebar tab.
• FBX and glTF appear in the export menu but the operator rejects them.
• blender_manifest.toml lists only windows-x64 as a platform, and the add-on needs Docker or local PolyFEM and TetWild builds.
• The README states GPL-3.0, while LICENSE and the manifest state MIT.
• The README badges and file tree refer to an older repository name and to a panels/poly_fem.py file that is not in the tree.
• There are no tests. The workflow only builds and publishes the package.

7. Sources

• GitHub repository
• README
• polyfem/blender_manifest.toml
• polyfem/operators/create_polyfem_json.py
• polyfem/operators/run_polyfem.py
• .github/workflows/build.yml

flowchart LR
  subgraph wf0["Build and Deploy Add-on"]
    direction LR
    wf0_Generate_Matrix["Generate_Matrix<br/>ubuntu-latest"]
    wf0_build[["build<br/>ubuntu-latest"]]
  end
  t0(["push · manual run"])
  d0[("GitHub Pages")]
  t0 --> wf0_Generate_Matrix
  wf0_Generate_Matrix --> wf0_build
  wf0_build -.-> d0

flowchart LR
  repo[("GitHub repository")]
  ci[["GitHub Actions<br/>1 workflow"]]
  pub_GitHub_Pages[("GitHub Pages")]
  repo -->|"push or pull request"| ci
  ci -->|"publishes"| pub_GitHub_Pages