Creating a Material Database for Creo Elements/Direct Finite Element Analysis

The following describes how to build your own materials database using the sample database (test_materials.dat) as an example.
Note:

1. Property map

First you specify a property map (see below). This sets up a mapping for the different material properties (specified by keywords) and an index (a unique number between 0 and 30). In addition you specify a format which is used to convert the property.

Example:
    4   :   %lg  :  DENSITY
    |        |         |
    index  format   keyword

Colons are used to separate the fields, each entry must be in a separate line. A left brace { identifies the beginning of the map, and a right brace } closes it. Both must be on a separate line.

Currently, you can choose between the following keywords:

Keyword                 type    format          
---------------------------------------
NAME                    string  %s      
LOCALID                 string  %s      
MATID                   string  %s      
DENSITY                 float   %lg     
YOUNG_1                 float   %lg     
YOUNG_2                 float   %lg     
YOUNG_3                 float   %lg     
SHEAR_1                 float   %lg     
SHEAR_2                 float   %lg     
SHEAR_3                 float   %lg             
POISS_1                 float   %lg     
POISS_2                 float   %lg     
POISS_3                 float   %lg             
T_EXPANSION_1           float   %lg     
T_EXPANSION_2           float   %lg     
T_EXPANSION_3           float   %lg             
T_CONDUCT_1             float   %lg     
T_CONDUCT_2             float   %lg             
T_CONDUCT_3             float   %lg
YIELD_STRENGTH          float   %lg
ULTIMATE_STRENGTH       float   %lg
FAILURE_STRENGTH        float   %lg
SPECIFIC_HEAT           float   %lg
REF_TEMP                float   %lg

2. The material entries

Following the property map you can specify your materials. To do this, you need to refer to the indices used in the property map.

    Example 1: DENSITY entry 
        
       4  :  7850.0 
       |       |
     index   value       
  
    Example 2: NAME entry 
  
       1  :  My special material
       |          |
     index      value  

Note:

Name property map Units Units settings used in Creo Elements/Direct Finite Element Analysis
DENSITY kg / m^3 DA_DENSITY
YOUNG_1-3 N / mm^2 DA_STRESS
SHEAR_1-3 N / mm^2 DA_STRESS
POISS_1-3 - -
T_EXPANSION_1-3 1 / K 1 / DA_TEMPERATURE-DIFFERENCE
T_CONDUCT_1-3 W / m K DA_CONDUCTIVITY
YIELD_STRENGTH N / mm^2 DA_STRESS
ULTIMATE_STRENGTH N / mm^2 DA_STRESS
FAILURE_STRENGTH N / mm^2 DA_STRESS
SPECIFIC_HEAT W / kg K DA_SPECIFIC_HEAT
REF_TEMP K DA_TEMPERATURE

Example of a material database:

# Property map:
#
{
1  :   %s   :  NAME
2  :   %s   :  LOCALID
3  :   %s   :  MATID
4  :   %lg  :  DENSITY
5  :   %lg  :  YOUNG_1
6  :   %lg  :  YOUNG_2 
7  :   %lg  :  YOUNG_3
8  :   %lg  :  SHEAR_1
9  :   %lg  :  SHEAR_2
10 :   %lg  :  SHEAR_3
11 :   %lg  :  POISS_1
12 :   %lg  :  POISS_2 
13 :   %lg  :  POISS_3
14 :   %lg  :  T_EXPANSION_1
15 :   %lg  :  T_EXPANSION_2
16 :   %lg  :  T_EXPANSION_3
17 :   %lg  :  T_CONDUCT_1
18 :   %lg  :  T_CONDUCT_2 
19 :   %lg  :  T_CONDUCT_3 
20  :  %lg  :  YIELD_STRENGTH
21  :  %lg  :  ULTIMATE_STRENGTH
22  :  %lg  :  FAILURE_STRENGTH
23  :  %lg  :  SPECIFIC_HEAT
25  :  %lg  :  REF_TEMP
} 
# 1st Material entry
{ 
2  :  MAT_1
1  :  Structural Steel 
3  :  Metal 
4  :  7850.0 
5  :  200000.0 
6  :  200000.0 
7  :  200000.0 
8  :  76920 
9  :  76920 
10  :  76920 
11  :  0.3 
12  :  0.3 
13  :  0.3 
14  :  1.2E-5 
15  :  1.2E-5 
16  :  1.2E-5 
}
{ 
2  :  MAT_2
1  :  Stainless Steel 
3  :  Metal 
4  :  7750.0 
5  :  193000.0 
6  :  193000.0 
7  :  193000.0 
8  :  73664.0 
9  :  73664.0 
10  :   73664.0
11  :  0.31 
12  :  0.31 
13  :  0.31 
14  :  1.36E-5 
15  :  1.36E-5 
16  :  1.36E-5 
}
{
2   :  MAT_15
1   :  Aluminium Al
3   :  Heat Test
4   :  2700.0e+0
5   :  68600
6   :  68600
7   :  68600
11  :  0.33
12  :  0.33
13  :  0.33
14  :  2.34e-05
15  :  2.34e-05
16  :  2.34e-05
17  :  220.0
18  :  220.0
19  :  220.0
20  :  28.5
21  :  68.85
22  :  28.5
23  :  465.0
25  :  273.15
}