Why Selection material?
Contents
Selecting material for the part is a very important part of Engineering. There are hundreds of thousands of materials available in the world. Some being pure material, some impure, and some combination of two materials (Alloys). Selecting material according to the requirement and knowing the application of the product.
Most importantly, we can select the material of our choice and requirement. However, various factors must be taken into consideration at the time of selecting the material. Selection of material based on the application of use. One major factor is the ability to withstand the loading condition and the second is the cost-effectiveness.
Moreover, there are other factors like availability, manufacturability, and resistance to rough environmental conditions. After doing research the conclusion is made and specific material is selected for the availability.
Material Selection in SolidWorks
We apply the material to the selected part/ component. By going to the Design tree we will see one option in the tree named “Material <Not specified>”
- Right-click on it and select Edit Material
- Select the specific material and click on Apply button at the bottom.
Applying material to Assembly
This way we can apply or select the material for a specific part. Even if we forgot to apply the material in the assembly file we can do it separately.
For applying the material in Assembly we have to select the part. The part to which we want to apply the material.
After Right-clicking on the part form design tree select material > Edit material.
Material selection features unlock some features like mass property. In the mass property feature, we can see and know the Density, Mass, Volume, Surface area, center of mass, and various parameters. However, we can change the SI units in Mass property which is important. As this can gives the center of mass concerning a particular edge or coordinate.
These feature gives many advantages and helps the Design Engineer. This lets the Design know how much material is required for manufacturing one part. Accordingly, they will order the material saving the cost of material purchase.
Applying material to the part will also make changes to the graphic appearance. Moreover, the software gives a close visual resemblance of how it’s going to look according to the material type.
Adding Custom material to the SolidWorks Library
We can add our custom material to the material library. This feature helps us to add new custom materials which we are using or we are going. For adding new material we should know the mechanical properties. After adding those properties we can simply follow the previous steps to apply the material to our part.
For adding new material we have to
- Right-click on materials > Edit materials
- Right-click on Custom material > Select New Library.
- Give the Library name and save the file.
- Right click on newly created material > New category
- Now give the name of the material
- Right click on the name and click on New Material
Specify the mechanical properties of the material, Tables, and curves you want. Add appearance and other parameters if required. After specifying the values save the material and apply the material to the part.
