Material Options

Material characteristics are defined as a set of options within a material's simulation domain.

Related Topics
Defining Material Options
Material Option Input Data

The material applied to a product determines many of the product's characteristics, such as its physical strength. DesignSight accounts for these characteristics when performing a simulation. For example, a tube made out of steel will deform much less than a tube made out of PVC plastic under the same load.



A material's physical characteristics are defined as part of the Simulation domain in the Material Editor workbench (see Adding Material Domains). The Simulation domain is usually defined by a materials expert outside of the DesignSight workbench.

Characteristics are organized into Options in the Simulation domain. The following material options can be defined:

  • Isotropic Elasticity: The stiffness of a material and its ability to resist loads.
  • Isotropic Plasticity: The amount of stress a material can endure before it permanently deforms.
  • Isotropic Conductivity: The rate at which heat can flow through a material.
  • Density: The density of a material.

    Note: DesignSight considers only the material density specified in the Simulation domain; a density specified as part of a material's PLM properties has no effect on DesignSight simulations.

  • Viscoelastic: A complex form of elasticity in which the stiffness of a material and its ability to resist loads decreases over time; i.e., the longer a load is applied, the weaker the material becomes.
  • Damping: The ability of a material to dissipate energy from an applied load.
  • Expansion: The ability of a material to expand or contract due to changes in temperature.

Not all options need to be defined for every material. The necessary options within a DesignSight simulation depend on the simulation method you are using.

Note: Currently the Viscoelastic, Damping, and Expansion options are not accounted for in any of the DesignSight simulation methods.

Material options can be further organized by configuring material behaviors, which allow you to include or exclude certain options from individual simulations.

A set of materials with default Simulation domain definitions is delivered with DesignSight; see Importing a Default Set of Materials for instructions on using these materials.