Simulation only allows steel for material choice

[Anonymous]

I modeled an object and changed the material type to ABS in the design workspace but when I switch to simulation it changes the object back to steel and the only choice in the materials library is steel. It also says in parenthesis under study material (same as model). How do I get this to run the simulation as ABS?

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

It may depend on where the ABS material was applied - at the root level, child component level, or body level.  If you can share your design, it should be easy to determine what is going on.

[TheCADWhisperer]

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

[Anonymous]

Here’s a copy of the file. I believe this was done at the component level. It was basically finished before I set the material type. Still need to do the gussets but wanted to take a look at the stresses first. Thanks for your help.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous - thanks for the model.  It looks as if you have just changed the Appearance, not the Physical Material:

Instead, use the Physical Material command to set the material to ABS:

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

….also, in the FEA environment you can copy the study as many times as needed and override the Material in each study without having to change the material back in the Model environment.  This is useful in comparing various materials for the same geometry and then make a decision for what material to ultimately use.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! As you can probably tell I'm new to designing in CAD and this was my first attempt at a stress analysis. I didn't know the look and the material could be different.

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I didn't know the look and the material could be different.

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I always tell everybody that I have a block (of wood material) that has the appearance of Gold that I will sell to you at half the price of Gold.  Nobody has ever taken me up on this offer, perhaps because they get the difference between Material and Appearance.  This trips up most folks new to analysis.