Add new or custom simulation materials

  1. Click physical material icon (Simulation workspace > Setup tab > Materials panel > Manage Physical Materials) to open the Material Browser.

  2. There are three different ways to add a new material to the Favorites library. Choose the method that best fits your situation:

    1. Locate an existing material in the Fusion Material Library, or from a user-defined library, to use as a template for your new material. When the cursor is over a library material, a add material to favorites and edit icon pencil and arrow icon appears at the right end of the line. Click this icon to add the material to the Favorites library and display the properties for editing.
    2. Locate an existing material in the Favorites library to use as a template for your new material and click it once. The material is selected, though there is currently no visual indication. Then:
      1. In the lower left corner of the Material Browser dialog, click new material icon New Material and select Duplicate Selected Material. Alternatively, right-click the material you want to copy and select Duplicate.
      2. Place your cursor over the new material entry and click edit material properties icon Edit to display the properties for editing.
    3. In the lower left corner of the Material Browser, click new material icon New Material and select Create New Material. A Select Material Browser dialog appears. Then:
      1. Browse to and double-click a material to use as a template for your new material. The physical properties are copied to the Material Browser dialog (which may be underneath the currently displayed dialog). Default description and appearance settings are also predefined.
      2. Close the Select Material Browser dialog by clicking the X in the upper right corner. The new material properties are now fully visible for editing in the Material Browser.

  3. The material properties are organized into three separate tabs within the editor:

    • Identity: Choose the type of material (Plastic, Metal, and so on) and enter descriptive and product information about the material within this tab.
    • Appearance: Specify parameters that affect the rendered appearance of the material (color, roughness, highlight parameters, and more) within this tab.
    • Physical: Define the mechanical and basic thermal properties and the material strength within this tab.

  4. Click Apply to commit the property changes or additions you have made.

  5. To assign a unique name to the material, right-click the material in the Name column (not within the editor) and choose Rename from the context menu. Type the desired name and press Enter.

    Note: The material list is reordered to keep it in alphabetical order. Therefore, the material may move up or down in the list after you rename it.

  6. Optionally, to delete a material, right-click the entry in the Name column and choose Delete from the context menu. You can only delete materials from the Favorites or user-defined libraries.

  7. Optionally, to add a material to another library, right-click the entry in the Name column, access the Add fly-out menu, and choose the target library. You can only copy materials to the Favorites or user-defined libraries.

Note: The default material units are specified using the Material Unit Display drop-down menu in the Unit and Value Display group of the Preferences dialog. In some input fields, you can override the default units by typing alternative units after the value (such as psi or MPa). When supported, the entry is immediately converted to the default material units. In other cases (such as nonlinear or temperature-dependent stress-strain data points) you cannot override the default units. For these inputs, you must change the program preferences to define material properties using different units.
Parent page: Manage physical materials in the Simulation workspace