Inv '14...when I create a SM part, with the material as "Steel, Galvanized" the default appearance is "Galvanized"...this is just a flat gray color. However, I can go into appearances and change it from it's default "Galvanized" to "Steel Galvanized"...and then it looks correct.
Am I missing something here?
I'm new to Inventor, but I think that the "Steel, Galvanized" Material is for actual hot-dip galvanized steel. If you do a rendered picture of the model, the details of the "Galvanized" Appearance pop out.
I also think the "Steel, Galvanized" Appearance is supposed to mimic actual sheet steel or electro-plated steel. Although, it tends to look more chrome-like in a rendered picture.
I wish there were more "sub-categories" of materials (and their corresponding appearances) by default. It sure would be nice to say "I'm building a cart with a box tubing frame made of Aluminum 6061-T6 and the sheet metal parts are made from Aluminum 5052-H32..." and then just select the corresponding material. Granted, I know there are a lot of materials out there and metal isn't the only one, but a nice user-maintained open-source central material database would be a nice touch.
You have the ability to modify and create templates, material files, and design data information as you desire. Why we have certain things set as default is not something I can really comment on, those default settings are just for generalization. I would just make those changes within the materials file will create a specific one for your needs.
Regards,
Don