About Applying Materials

Core Materials

Applying a core material specifies the constitutive material of an object. Core materials are used in the following contexts:

• Simulation: The Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio specified as part of the material's linear elastic domain are used to compute simulations.
• Assembly Design: The density specified as part of the material's PLM attributes is used to calculate mass.
• Rendering: If there is no covering material on top of the core material, the attributes specified as part of the core material's rendering domain are used to display colors, shading, reflectivity, etc.
• Drafting: The attributes specified as part of the material's drafting domain are used to represent cross-sectional views with the appropriate hatching patterns.
• Composite: The attributes specified as part of the material's composite domain are used in designing composite parts.

You can apply only a single core material to an object.

Covering Materials

Applying a covering material specifies a thin coating of material on the exterior surfaces of an object. Covering materials are used in the following context:

• Rendering: The attributes specified as part of the covering material's rendering domain are used to display colors, shading, reflectivity, etc. For rendering purposes, a covering material takes precedence over a core material.

You can apply up to three covering materials to an object.

Combining Core and Covering Materials

Within a single object, the applied core material and applied covering material are different; the image below shows a product made of bronze (core material) and coated with red paint (covering material).

Supports for Material Application

The table below summarizes the objects to which materials can be applied.

Before using the Apply Material commands, you must define your working context in the specification tree. To define the working context, double-click a product reference or product instance to make it UI-active. UI-activated objects appear highlighted in blue in the specification tree. The working context determines which supports are available for material application and the priority of materials on an object, as described below.

Core Material

The Apply Core Material command can apply core materials to the following objects in the specification tree:

• The UI-activated product reference.
• A representation instance directly below the UI-activated product reference or product instance.
• The features within a representation instance (geometrical elements such as bodies, for example).

The Materials Palette can apply core materials to any product in the specification tree, regardless of the UI-activated product reference.

Important: To be used as a support for a core material, a product reference must have at least one representation instance (either a 3D shape or a FE model) directly below it in the specification tree. The core material is applied to the representation directly below the product reference in the specification tree, regardless other products that can be instanced inside the product reference. To be used as a support for a core material, a feature must be directly below a representation reference, and the Apply material on the 3Dshape check box must be cleared in the Apply Core Material dialog box.

Material that is applied to a product appears in the specification tree in a Materials node underneath the selected product. Material that is applied to a representation appears in a Materials node underneath the product that contains the selected representation.

A core material applied to a product becomes the default core material for all representation instances directly beneath that product in the specification tree; representation instances at lower levels of the specification tree are not affected. A core material applied directly to a representation takes priority over a default core material applied to a product.

Similarly, a core material applied to a body element takes priority over any core material applied to representation instances or products in the product structure. The priority rule is enforced with respect to a bottom-up scheme. Let's consider the following example with three core materials: brass, aluminium and lead. Aluminium material is applied to Body.1, Lead material is applied to Product_A1, and Brass is applied directly to Representation1 and indirectly to Body.2 element; inherited from Representation1 element.

Covering Material

The Apply Covering Material command can apply covering materials to the following objects in the specification tree:

• The UI-activated product reference or product instance.
• A representation instance directly below the UI-activated product reference or product instance (must be a 3D shape).
• The features within a representation reference (3D Shape) that is directly below the UI-activated product.
• Any product instance below the UI-activated product in the specification tree.

The Materials Palette can apply covering materials to any product in the specification tree, regardless of the UI-activated product reference.

An applied covering material appears in a Materials node underneath the UI-activated product.

A covering material propagates to all representations in the specification tree below the support to which the material is applied. By using different supports and working contexts, you can apply multiple covering materials to a single representation; the following rules determine which covering material takes priority:

• A covering material applied in a higher working context (i.e., when the material is applied, the UI-activated product is higher in the specification tree) always takes priority over a covering material applied in a lower working context.
• If the working contexts are equal, a covering material applied to a higher support takes priority over a covering material applied to a lower support.
• If multiple covering materials are applied to the same support in the same working context, the most recently applied material takes priority. If you apply more than three covering materials in this fashion, the newest material overwrites the third material.

Note: Covering materials applied using the Materials Palette always use the root product reference as the working context, regardless of the UI-activated product.