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:

You cannot copy the sample database (test_materials.dat) and then modify this copied database using the Command DA_EDIT_MAT_DB.
- Either you have to create the database with the command DA_EDIT_MAT_DB and edit it later with the command DA_EDIT_MAT_DB,
- you can copy test_materials.dat and edit it with a normal text editor, or
- you can build it from scratch following the guidelines below.
Please keep in mind: The materials described within test_materials.dat are examples and their properties are approximate values only. test_materials.dat is meant as a template (or starting point) for creating your own database with a text editor.

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:

The material properties with numerical values must be specified in the units listed in the second column in the table below. Once you have specified your database in the correct units, the materials can be displayed and handled according to the unit settings in Creo Elements/Direct Finite Element Analysis. The third column indicates which unit settings are used in Creo Elements/Direct Finite Element Analysis for the material properties.

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

As format specifications only the double precision formats %lg %lf %le are supported. Although it is strongly recommended to use %lg.
Each entry must be defined in one line.
The entries can be in any arbitrary order, but must be unique and consistent
Not all properties need to be defined in the map, and they can be omitted in the material definition. However there must be a minimum of properties specified:

 NAME  LOCALID  MATID DENSITY  YOUNG_1 YOUNG_2 YOUNG_3 POISS_1 POISS_2 POISS_3

For thermal analysis, you need in addition:

T_EXPANSION_1-3 T_CONDUCT_1-3 REF_TEMP

Note: Blanks are not allowed in LOCALID.

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
}