Define the Blank Type and Material

Identify the blank type in your model as single or tailor-welded, and assign a material to the blank.

  1. From the Tryout ribbon, click the Blank icon.
    Tip: To find and open a tool, press Ctrl+F. For more information, see Find and Search for Tools.
  2. On the guide bar, choose a blank type:
    • Choose Single Blank if the blank consists of one part, material and thickness.
    • Choose Tailor Welded Blank if the blank consists of multiple parts, materials and thicknesses.
    Note: Tailor-welded is not supported for solids, only shells. A solid must be a single blank.
  3. If you chose Single Blank, on the model, select the blank.
  4. If you chose Tailor Welded Blank, on the model, select all of the parts of the blank.
  5. Click to confirm the selection(s).
  6. In the microdialog, enter a thickness and material for the blank.
    1. To edit the material or select a different material, click the Material Library button.
    2. For a tailor-welded blank, define the material properties for each part of the blank by right-clicking and selecting from the context menu.
    3. Click to confirm the blank thickness and material selection, or in the guide bar, click Apply.
    The defined blank turns gray as indicated in the legend.

Create User-Defined Materials

Create a material that is based on user-specified values.

  1. From the Tryout ribbon, Define Blank tools, click the Materials icon.


  2. In the Materials dialog, select the My Materials tab.
  3. Click the Create Material button:


  4. In the Name field, enter a name for your material.
  5. In the Type field, select the material on which you would like to base your new material, or enter your own type.
  6. For each tab, Elastic, Plastic and FLC, enter the properties required for your material. If you have material properties defined in a spreadsheet, you can can copy and paste the values directly into the Materials dialog.
    Note: See more details on material models.
  7. Click Create.
    The new material is created and stored in My Materials.

Import Materials

Import materials in the My Materials tab.

Download a material.xml file from the Altair Material Data Center, and import that material.
  1. From the Tryout ribbon, Setup tools, click the Materials tool.


  2. In the Materials dialog, click the My Materials tab.
  3. Click the Import Materials icon.
  4. Browse to the downloaded material file and click Open.
  5. Right-click on the imported material and select Add to User Material Library from the context menu to save to the user library.

Create and Assign a Material Based on Test Data

Create a new material with test data from a .xlsx file.

The example in this topic includes test data from an external .xlsx file.
  1. In Microsoft Excel, open and review the file <installation_directory>\InspireForm2025.1\tutorials\Material_Data.xlsx. The data should look something like this:


    Note: You can copy data from an .xls file and paste it directly into the relevant property fields of the Materials dialog in Inspire Form.
  2. From Inspire Form, on the Tryout tab, click the Materials icon.


  3. In the Materials dialog, select the My Materials tab.
  4. Click the Create Material button:


  5. In the Name field, enter DP780.
  6. In the Type field, select Steel.
  7. Select the Elastic tab.
    1. For Young's modulus, select Constant and enter a Value of 180000 MPa.
    2. For Yield stress, enter the value from the .xlsx file: 684.2MPa
  8. Select the Plastic tab.
    1. For Stress-Strain, select Data Points (True).
    2. Find the parameter values in the .xlsx file and enter them in Anisotrophy as follows:

      • For R00, enter 0.691.

      • For R45, enter 1.050.

      • For R90, enter .959.

    3. For Yield criterion, select Barlat 3 parameter.
      Note: Inspire Form supports the following Yield Criteria: von Mises, Hill 1948, Barlat 2000, and Barlat 3 parameter.
    4. For Exponent (m), select 6.0.
    5. Click the Data Points button to expand the columns for True Strain and True Stress.
    6. In the first cell of the True Strain column, right-click and select Clear All.


      The existing data points are removed.
    7. Copy the Plastic Strain and True Stress (MPa) columns in the .xls file, and paste them in the Data Points columns in the Materials dialog.
      The new values are added to your material definition.
  9. Click the FLC tab.
    1. From the FLC dropdown, select the input type/method.
    2. If Data Points (True) or Data Points (Engg.) is selected in the FLC dropdown, copy the Minor True Strain and Major True Strain columns in the .xls file and paste them in the Data Points columns.
    3. If Data Points (True) or Data Points (Engg.) is selected in the FLC dropdown, enter the thickness of the test coupon as the Thickness (test) value. For all other FLC input types, specify a thickness of 1.0 mm.
      Note: Plot points are calculated and scaled automatically based on material properties during analysis. For more information, see Material Models.
  10. Click Create.
    Steel DP780 is added to My Materials.
  11. Click Close.
  12. To assign the new material, right-click a part on the model and select Material Library from the context menu.
    The Materials dialog appears.
  13. Click the tab, My Materials.
  14. Select Steel DP780.
  15. Click Assign.


  16. Click Close.

Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls

To Do this
Add/remove from selection Ctrl+click
Reverse selection Ctrl+R