The Material dialog box helps you manage physical materials. You can work with pre-defined materials, create custom materials, apply materials to parts, and manage favorites.
To display this dialog box, open a part, right-click Material 
in the FeatureManager design tree, and select Edit Material.
Material Dialog Box Interface
The left side of the dialog box contains a tree of available material types and materials. Tabs on the right display information about the selected material. If SolidWorks Simulation is added in, more tabs appear.
Material Tree
The material tree organizes materials into:
- Libraries. Initial libraries are SolidWorks Materials and Custom Materials. The materials in SolidWorks Materials are read-only and are shared with SolidWorks Simulation.
- Categories, for example, Steel, Iron, Plastics.
- Materials, for example, Aluminum Bronze, Brass, Copper.
SolidWorks Materials
Right-click a material in SolidWorks Materials and select:
| Add to Favorites |
Appends this material to the list of favorites displayed when you right-click Material in the FeatureManager design tree. |
| Copy |
Copies the material so that you can paste it in Custom Materials or a library you create. You can also copy categories and paste them into custom libraries.
|
| New Library |
Creates an additional library to store copied or customized materials. |
| Sort by Library |
Sorts materials by library, category, and material name. The default sorting order. |
| Sort by Category |
Sorts materials by category, without listing library names. |
| Sort by Material |
Sorts materials by name without categorizing them. |
Custom Materials
In Custom Materials or a category you create, you can also select:
| Rename |
Renames the item. |
| Delete |
Removes the item. |
| Move Up |
Moves the current item up. |
| Move Down |
Moves the current item down. |
| Cut |
Deletes the item and copies it to the paste buffer. |
| Paste |
Pastes the item that you have copied. |
| New Material |
Adds a new material to the category. |