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Creating a Custom Material

When you create a custom material, start with an existing material similar to the material you want to create.

To customize a material, copy a material to a custom library and change the copy's properties:

  1. In a part document, right-click Material in the FeatureManager design tree and select Edit Material.
  2. In the material tree, select the material on which to base the custom material.
    1. Right-click and select Copy or press Ctrl + C to copy the material to your paste buffer.
    2. In the material tree, select a category in a custom library. You can use the Custom Materials library or a library you created.
      You can only add custom materials to categories within the Custom Materials library, not to the Custom Materials folder itself. To create a new category, right-click Custom Materials and click New Category.
    3. Right-click and select Paste or press Ctrl + V.
    4. Optionally, rename the material. Right-click the material and select Rename.
  3. Edit properties of the material, then click Save.
  4. Optionally, click Apply to apply the new material to the current part.

Adding Sustainability Data to a Custom Material

You can perform sustainability analysis with a custom material by linking your custom material to a material with similar characteristics in the default SOLIDWORKS Materials database. The analysis is then performed using the Sustainability characteristics of the SOLIDWORKS material.

If a SOLIDWORKS material does not have Sustainability defined, you can copy the material to the Custom Materials folder to link it to a material in the SOLIDWORKS Materials database.
  1. In the FeatureManager design tree, right-click Material and click Edit Material.
  2. In the Material dialog box, in the left panel, select the custom material.
  3. On the Properties tab, beside Sustainability, click Select.
  4. In the Match Sustainability Information dialog box, select the material that is most similar to your custom material.
    Only materials with a link to the Sustainability database are listed.
  5. Click OK.
    The linked material appears in Sustainability.
  6. Click Apply, then Close.


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Web Help Content Version: SOLIDWORKS 2016 SP05

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