Assigning Material

The response of a part depends on the material assigned to the part. SimulationXpress must know the elastic properties of the material of the part. You assign material to the part by picking a material from a material library. Materials in SOLIDWORKS have two sets of properties, visual and physical (mechanical). SimulationXpress uses the physical properties of the materials defined in the SOLIDWORKS Material library. Materials can be isotropic, orthotropic, or anisotropic. SimulationXpress supports isotropic materials only.

To assign/modify a material to a part:

  1. Click Choose Material (Material tab of the SimulationXpress wizard).
  2. In the Material dialog box, expand the class of materials and select a material.
  3. Click Apply.
  4. Click Close.
    The material appears in the SimulationXpress wizard and a check mark appears next to Material. Also, the material appears next to the part's name in the SimulationXpress study tree, for example, hook (-Alloy Steel-).
    To change the assigned material, click Change material.
    If you select a material that does not have a Yield strength, a message specifies that the Yield strength is not defined.
  5. Click Next.

    You can also assign a material by right-clicking the part in the SimulationXpress study tree and clicking Apply/Edit Material.

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