To Create or Copy a Material
1. Click File > Prepare > Model Properties. The Model Properties dialog box opens.
2. Click change in the Material line. The Materials dialog box opens.
3. Click File > New. The Material Definition dialog box opens.
4. Type a name for the material in the Name box.
5. Type a description for the material in the Description box.
6. In the Density box, type a value for the density of the material and select the unit of measurement from the adjacent list.
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 If you select a unit of measurement that is different from the assigned system of units for the model, then the Changing Parameter units dialog box opens and allows you to convert or interpret the parameter value. Convert Value (for example 1" becomes 25.4mm) is the default. |
7. Use the following tabs to define the properties of the material:
Structural—Defines the structural properties for the material of a model.
Thermal—Defines thermal properties for a material of a model.
Miscellaneous—Defines sheet metal properties, surface properties, and cross-hatching.
Appearance—Defines appearances.
User Defined—Defines parameter definitions and adds them to the materials database. For more information, click the See Also link To Create a Parameter and start at step 4.
8. To save the material to the library, perform the following steps.
a. Click Save to Library. The Save a Copy dialog box opens.
b. Browse to the library folder and click OK. If you have added or edited appearances then the Save dialog box opens.
c. Click OK. By default, the appearances are saved in a file named global.dmt in the same location where the material file is saved or in the location defined by the global_appearance_file configuration option.
9. To save a material to the model, click Save to Model. The material is saved to the model and appears in the Materials dialog box in the Materials in Model column.
10. Click OK in the Materials dialog box.
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• To copy an existing material in a model, select the material that you want to copy in the Materials in Model list and click Edit > Copy in the Materials dialog box. The copy appears in the Materials in Model list as Copy_of_<name> while subsequent copies of the same material appear as Copy1_of_<name>, Copy2_of_<name> and so on.
• You can define material properties as a function of temperature using the Functions dialog box that opens when you click Function on the shortcut menu. The shortcut menu appears when you right-click in the box next to Poisson's Ratio, Young's Modulus, or Coeff. of Thermal Expansion in the Structural tabbed page. After you select or define a function and click OK in the Function dialog box, the function name appears in the box next to the material property.
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Similarly, you can also assign a parameter value to define a material property by using the Select Parameter dialog box that opens when you click Parameter on the shortcut menu. The shortcut menu appears when you right-click in the box next to the material property in the Structural or Thermal tabbed pages. Select a parameter from the dialog box. After you click Insert Selected, the parameter name appears in the box next to the material property.