Material Properties

Material properties define the structure and thermal characteristics of each part in the assembly.

In SimSolid, materials are assumed to remain in the linear-elastic region of the stress-strain curve for structural analysis. That is, strains are assumed small (<0.2%) and material properties do not change with load or time.


Figure 1.

Material properties must be defined based on the problem physics. Mechanical properties must be defined for structural analysis. Young’s modulus, density and coefficient of thermal expansion are mandatory fields. Thermal analysis requires definitions for thermal properties and density.

Additionally, material yield strength is used to calculate factors of safety. For fatigue analysis, fatigue properties must be specified by estimating from UTS or input of Stress-Life or Strain-Life curve parameters.

SimSolid comes with a sample material database which defines these parameters for common materials (steel, aluminum, and so on). Custom material properties can be created as well.
Important: Material properties can dramatically effect simulation solution results. Material properties provided with SimSolid are intended as examples only. Actual material properties should be obtained from the relevant part or material supplier and entered in a local user database. SimSolid Corporation does not verify or validate the accuracy of the examples materials provided.