I am using simulation mechanical 2014 and am trying to assign the material “red pine” to a beam. When I open the “Manage Material Library” from Tools>Options I see it listed under wood in the Autodesk Simulation Material Library, but when I double click on Material in the browser to assign it to the beam, wood does not show up as one of the choices although the library selected is the Autodesk Simulation Material Library. Can you please tell me how to assign this material. Thank you. Phil
pjquenzi@gmail.com
Solved! Go to Solution.
Solved by AstroJohnPE. Go to Solution.
If you really want to understand why, you may want to read the page titled "Material Model Table" in the help documentation. 😉
In short, the materials in the library apply to just one type of stress-strain curve. The software refers to these as Material Models, and you choose which material model you want to use for each part of the model under the "Element Definition" dialog. For example, a material that has orthotropic properties (properties are different in X, Y, and Z directions) cannot be used for a part that is set to use isotropic materials (same properties in all directions). Wood is an orthotropic material, and the default material model for most parts is isotropic. That is the problem.
Next, the material models that are available are limited by the element type. For example, a beam element is just a straight line in a model (just like the beam sketches or free body diagrams that you learned in engineering school). I believe that beam elements do not have an option for an orthotropic material model (but I could be wrong) just by the nature of a line element.
So, if your "beam" is what you are calling the part, but it is made of brick elements, you can change the material model to orthotropic. Then, all of the wood entries will appear when you go to assign the material to the part.
Thank you for your response. That is about what I figured was going on. There are, however, many beam models of wood structures that would provide satisfactory results if the materal were treated as isotropic. In the model I was working on I made a "customer defined" material with appropriate modulus and Poisson's ratio and it seemed to work just fine. Thanks again.
Phil Quenzi PE