A cubic volume element in a 3D grid, the 3D equivalent of a pixel, used to represent solid geometry in voxel-based modeling and multi-material 3D printing.
A voxel (volumetric pixel) is the smallest addressable unit in a 3D grid representation. Unlike B-rep or mesh models, voxel representations discretize space into a regular 3D array of cubes, each storing properties (material, density, color). Resolution is determined by voxel size: finer voxels = higher resolution but exponentially larger data. Voxel models naturally handle internal structures, gradients, and multi-material compositions that are difficult to represent in B-rep.
Voxel modeling is used in: generative design / topology optimization (Autodesk Fusion 360's Generative Design outputs voxel stress fields), medical imaging to print (CT/MRI DICOM → voxel → mesh → print), and multi-material Polyjet/MJF printing where different material properties are assigned per voxel. OpenVDB is the industry standard voxel format for complex volumetric data. Bambu Lab AMS multi-color printing effectively assigns material per voxel region.
Voxel resolution is a hard limit: features smaller than voxel size are lost. A 1mm³ voxel grid for a 100mm cube requires 1 million voxels; at 0.1mm voxels, 1 billion. Memory scales as cube of resolution. Converting voxels to mesh for slicing introduces Marching Cubes staircase artifacts: apply smoothing after conversion. Do not confuse voxel-based design with FDM layer slicing, which is a 2D cross-section operation, not a 3D voxel assignment.
Related terms: Polygon Count, Tessellation, Mesh Topology
| Field | 3D design, 3D printing, engineering |
|---|---|
| Also called | volumetric pixel, 3D pixel, volume element |
Engineer, author of The Big Book of 3D Printing and additive manufacturing expert