How Do I Add a New Material to the Database Using Fit Material?

  • The fit material module is used for adding material using viscosity data.
  • Polymer properties are characterized using Rheological measurements.
  • This information is stored in the material database as constitutive material models. There are situations when we have rheological data but do not have it fitted to one of the constitutive models. In this scenario, Inspire Extrude helps to fit this rheological data into one of the constitutive material models automatically and helps in adding into material database.




Using the Materials Tool

  1. Create hx-1404-sample.dat file. 
    
                    Name PVC_Generic
                    Class Polymer
                    Density 2260.0
                    SpecificHeat 896.0
                    Conductivity 0.167
                    CoeffOfThermalExpansion 1e-005
                    VolumetricHeatSource 0.0
                    TemperatureUnit 1
                    FreezeTemperature 325.0
                    # ConstitutiveModel Types
                    # 1 = PowerLaw
                    # 2 = Cross
                    # 3 = ModifiedCross
                    ConstitutiveModel 3
                    # TemepeatureDependence Types
                    # 1 = Exp(-Beta(DeltaT))
                    # 2 = Exp(Q/RT)
                    # 3 = Exp(Tb/T)
                    # 4 = WLF
                    TemperatureDependence 1
                    END HEADER DATA
                    NumTemperatureCurves 3
                    Temperature 240
                    CurvePoints 6
                    13.4  2500
                    244  1160
                    908  443
                    3150  198
                    7470  111
                    10500  86.3
                    Temperature 260
                    CurvePoints 6
                    12.7  1560
                    234  820
                    856  351
                    3120  152
                    7480  84
                    10500  65.2
                    Temperature 280
                    CurvePoints 7
                    11.9  866
                    223  524
                    746  276
                    2970  124
                    7350  66.3
                    10600  50.6
                    15100  40.5
                    END
  2. Open Inspire Extrude Polymer.
  3. From the Polymers ribbon, click the Materials tool.


  4. Navigate to User Materials > Polymers.
  5. Right-click and select Fit material.

  6. Browse to the sample .dat file you created.

    Inspire Extrude will read this file and run the fit material module to create new material data.

  7. Once fit material runs successfully, it will add a new entry for the material as specified in the .dat file, and the material can be used for simulation.

Using the Command Line

The following procedure is for Windows. A similar approach can be followed for Linux using terminal.
  1. Open DOS prompt.
  2. Change directory to the folder in which the material input *.dat is saved.


  3. Execute the fit material executable and specify the name of the material input *.dat.
    Based on the version of Inspire Extrude that you have installed, the fit material executable will be in that respective folder.
    • If you have Inspire Extrude 2024, then the fit material executable will be located at C:\Program Files\Altair\2019\InspireExtrudePolymer2024\hwx\bin\win64\hwsolvers\hx\bin\win64.
    • If you already have HW solvers installed, then the fit material executable will be located in the <install folder>\hwsolvers\hx\bin\win64 directory.


In the material .dat folder, you will notice three files being created.

  • *.mtl : This is actual material file that can be saved to the material database folder.
  • *.out: Output from fit material showing logs of fitting.
  • *.err: If any unexpected error occurs, it will be written to this file.