Customizing a Material Library

Note: The libraries provided by Autodesk are read-only and cannot be changed. To change a material in the library, either copy the individual materials to another library, or copy the entire library. See the following instructions.

How to Create a New Material Library:

Each library is a separate file (actually three files: .MLB, .CDX, and .FPT) that contains a set of materials. Whether you use separate libraries for different classes of materials or put all materials into a single library is a matter of preference.

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command in Autodesk Simulation.
Choose the Create New Library (New) button from the toolbar.
Enter the library's file name and location where you want it to be saved in the resulting Create Material Library dialog and then click Save.
A dialog will appear prompting for a descriptive name for the library. This name will appear in the tab at the bottom of the tree view (and in the list of available material libraries when assigning a material to a part). The default name will be the file name that you previously specified. Accept the default or specify a new name and click OK.
The library you just created will be shown.
Tip: A new library can also be created from the Element Material Selection screen when assigning a material to the model.

How to Set a Default Library:

Any library shown in the manager can be set as the default library. (The default library will be shown when a material is assigned to a part in the model. Naturally, materials from other libraries can be chosen at that time.) To choose which library is the default, go to the library menu () and choose Set as Default.

Tip:

Once a Favorites library is created, it can be set as the default library using the above steps.
A Favorites library can be created from either the Library Manager (see How to Copy Materials From a Library to Another Library: below), or from the Element Material Selection dialog when assigning a material to a part (see the paragraph Defining the Material Properties on the page Setting Up and Performing the Analysis: Using the FEA Editor Environment).

How to Remove a Library:

There are two approaches that are similar to removing a library from the list of available libraries:

The library can simply be removed from the list, leaving the files on the disk. From the library menu (), choose Remove Library. Or, you can click the library menu's Close button ().
The library can be removed from the list and the files deleted from the disk. From the library menu (), choose Delete Library.

How to Add a New Material Category:

A material category is a folder within a library. Each material added to the library can be assigned to different category which makes it convenient to organize a large library. For example, create categories named Ceramics, Metals, and Plastics. The Metals category may have subcategories of Aluminum and Steel.

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
Right-click in the tree view and choose Add New Material Category.
A dialog will appear. Enter the name of the new category/folder and click OK.

How to Add a New Material to a Library:

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
Right-click in the tree view and choose Add New Material.
The New Material dialog will appear.
Enter a name for the material in the Material name field.
Select the material model that you want to use for this material in the Material model drop-down box. The material model assigned in the library determines whether the material is listed when applying the material to the part. The material model in the library corresponds to a specific element type and material model for the part. See the Material Model Table for the available material model for each element and analysis type.
Type a description of the material in the Material description field.
Enter the reference for the materials properties source in the Material source description field.
If the material properties are from a Web site, the address can be entered in the Material source URL field.
Select the unit system in the Unit System drop-down box. If the source properties are in a mix of units, use whatever set of units are more convenient; the software will convert the material properties entered into the library to the unit system used by the model as necessary.
Using the list of categories on the right-hand side, select the category (folder) where the new material is to be placed. (If you place it in the wrong category, it can always be dragged in the tree view to a different folder.)
Click the OK button. The new material should be seen in the tree view, and the material properties for the selected material model will be displayed in the Material Library Manager. Enter the necessary material properties into the proper fields of the property grid. Some properties are not needed for some analyses. For example, plastic properties are not required if doing a linear analysis.
After entering all the information, click the Save Changes button on the toolbar.
Tip: New materials can also be added to a library when assigning a material to the model. See the paragraph Defining the Material Properties on the page Setting Up and Performing the Analysis: Using the FEA Editor Environment for details.

How to Modify Materials in a Customized Library:

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
Select the material that you want to modify in the tree view.
Make any necessary changes to the data fields in the property grid.
Click the Save Changes button on the toolbar.
Tip: The Save Changes toolbar button becomes active when you press the Enter key or move to a different field. Properties that need to be saved are displayed in bold font. Before the changes are saved to the library, the Reload From Library toolbar button will revert to the material properties that were last saved to the library. The Reset From Default toolbar button will change all the material properties to the default values, which are generally a value of zero.

How to Delete a Material in a Customized Library:

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
Select the material that you would like to delete in the tree view.
Right-click and choose Delete Material.
You will be asked if you are sure that you want to delete this material. Click Yes if you are sure.

How to Copy a Material Library:

You can make a copy of an existing material library and edit its material data information by following these steps:

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
From the library menu (), choose Copy Library.
Specify the file name for the new copy.
Press the Save button.
You are now asked to enter a descriptive name for the new material library. This descriptive name will appear in your list of material libraries. The Material Library Manager will use the file name you specified previously by default or you can type a new name. Then click OK.

How to Copy Materials From a Library to Another Library:

There are two methods to copy materials from one library to another.

Using Add to. This method is the easiest and allows multiple materials to be copied simultaneously.
1. Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
2. Select the library with the existing material by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
3. Select the material, right-click, and choose one of the Add to options.
  - Add to Favorites will copy the material to the Favorites library: a collection of materials that are used most often.
  - Add to New Library presents a dialog so you can specify a new library file. The new library will be created, and the selected material will be copied to the new library.
  - Add to. Any custom libraries that already exist will be listed. Choosing one of the existing libraries will copy the material to existing library.
Using Export: XML. This method supports the export of one material at a time.

Materials can be copied from one library to another by exporting them from the source library and importing them into the new library.

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library with the existing material by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
Select the material, right-click, and choose Export: XML.
Enter a name and location for the file. (This can be a temporary name and location since it will not be used beyond the next few steps.)
Select the library for the material by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
From the library menu (), choose Import: XML.
Choose the file and click the Save button.

Note: The copied material will exist as separate entries in multiple libraries. Changing the properties in one library will not change the properties in the other libraries.

How to Access Existing Material Libraries:

If a library file exists but is not linked to the software, use the following procedure. For example, a co-worker may have created the library, and you now want to access it. Or, you may have installed an update and you now need to re-establish the connection to the custom library.

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Click the Add Existing Library (Add) button on the toolbar.
Select the file and click the Open button.
You are now asked to enter a descriptive name for the added material library. This descriptive name will appear in your list of material libraries. The Material Library Manager will use the file name you specified by default or you can type a new name. Then click OK. The Material Library Manager will now create a path to the existing material library.

How to Import a Material Library:

The Material Library Manager can import material data from XML format files (including SolidWorks Material XML format (*.sldmat)). The data can be imported into a customized material library by following these steps:

Open the Material Library Manager by using the Tools Options Manage Material Library command.
Select the library by clicking the appropriate tab in the tree view.
From the library menu (), choose Import: XML.
Select the file and click the Open button. The materials in the XML file will be imported into the library.