Workbench Material Data Transfer

A link can be created from an Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop system (e.g., HFSS) geometry cell to a downstream Engineering Data (ED) cell. When the downstream ED cell is refreshed, it updates with materials (names and properties) used by the upstream project. This ensures that the geometry-to-geometry link connecting the same two systems, which specifies the material assignments for various parts, refers to the correct materials and their properties.

Detailed Behavior

The geometry-to-ED link can be created by dragging the Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop system geometry cell to the ED cell of a downstream system. When the downstream system's ED cell refreshes, the upstream system generates a MatML format XML file, which is consumed by Workbench to update the downstream system. This file is stored in the workbench project files according to design point. Note that Workbench ED cell material names are case-sensitive, as are material names within Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop products.

For material assignments to work with the ED in the downstream model, the downstream geometry cell must have the Material Properties check box selected. A convenient way to do this is to have this property checked by default, by setting this in Tools > Options > Geometry Import. Systems created after this default option is set will have Material Properties automatically checked for the geometry cell.

When the downstream model cell is refreshed or updated, material properties from the ED in the same system are used in the model's materials, based on material assignments set during the geometry cell refresh. Note that if material assignment fails, the Workbench default material (Structural Steel) is used.

Workbench resolves name conflicts by changing the name of any materials being transferred over from the upstream system. For example, if the upstream Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop system uses a material named "Structural Steel", this will conflict with the existing downstream default material of the same name. The update will result in the Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop material being named "Structural Steel 2" in the downstream ED, but the downstream model will still use the properties supplied by Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop for the material.

Note that some materials may not satisfy all requirements for downstream system physics. For example, vacuum has no thermal conductivity, but downstream steady state thermal systems require a non-zero value for this property. Material properties in the workbench ED cell of the downstream system can be modified after refresh to ensure that validity criteria can be met. Any property added to a material in the downstream ED is preserved in subsequent ED cell updates. However, any existing property that is edited in the downstream ED will be overwritten by a subsequent ED cell update.