Adding New Materials

You can add a new material to a project or to the global user-defined material library. To make the new project material available to all projects, you must export the material to a global user-defined material library.

Materials are added using the View/Edit Material window, which can be opened from either the Select Definition window or the Edit Libraries window.

To open the Select Definition window:

Click Modeler > Assign Material.

The Select Definition window appears.

To open the Edit Libraries window:

Click Tools > Edit Libraries > Materials. (In the project tree, you can also right-click Materials, and select Edit Library.)

The Edit Libraries window appears.

To add a new material:

From either the Select Definition dialog box or the Edit Libraries window, click Add Material.

The View/Edit Material window appears.

Type a name for the material in the Material Name text box, or accept the default.
Select one of the following from the Material Coordinate System Type drop-down menu:

Cartesian (default)
Cylindrical
Spherical

Under View/Edit Material for select:

Active Design to display properties used in the active design.
Active Project to display properties used in the active project.
All Properties to display all properties available. This enlarges the table of properties to show all properties possible for the selected Physics type(s). You can use the scroll bars or size the dialog to see all properties.

Selecting All Properties also enables the three Physics check boxes: Electromagnetic, Thermal, and Structural. These check boxes are used to filter the properties displayed in the table by physics type. Clearing a check box hides properties of that physics type.

You can also enable the View/ Edit Modifier check box for Thermal Modifier.

Checking this box causes the Thermal Column to display at the right side of the Properties of the Material table. Selecting Edit rather than None causes display of the Edit Thermal Modifier dialog box.
Select a material property type – Simple (i.e., linear), Anisotropic, Nonlinear, Vector, or Custom – for each property from the Type drop-down menu. For Composition, values are Solid, Lamination, or Litz Wire. Some properties only use the Simple type. For thermal materials, select Solid or Fluid for the Thermal Material Type.

Available selections vary with the property and solution type, and with the View/Edit selection as described above.

For example, for an Eddy Current active design, if the material is Simple (i.e., linear), enter values for the following material properties in the Value boxes:

Relative Permeability (See also Relative Permeability in the Technical Notes.)
Relative Permittivity
Bulk Conductivity
Dielectric Loss Tangent
Magnetic Loss Tangent
Core Loss Model
Composition: Solid, Lamination, or Litz Wire.
Note: The Litz Wire selection that appears under Composition is valid only for Maxwell 2D/3D Transient, and 2D/3D Eddy Current designs. Selecting Litz Wire for any other design type will generate an error message.
Mass Density

If the material is a ferrite, enter a value greater than 0 in the Magnetic Saturation Value box. You may also choose to enter values in the Lande G Factor and Delta H Value boxes. Because Delta H values are measured at specific frequencies, you should also enter a - Measured Frequency value (default 9.4 Ghz).

Note: You may enter a variable name or mathematical expression in the Value box.

To modify the units for a material property, click the Units box, and then select a new unit system.
For Material Appearance, you can check the Use Material Appearance box to enable the fields for you to specify a color and transparency for the material.
- Clicking the Color bar opens a standard color selection window.
- Clicking the Transparency box opens a Transparency dialog with a text field and slider bar for selection.
If you want to add descriptive notes for the new material, click the ellipsis button [...] by the Notes field. This opens a dialog in which you can enter text. To enter multiple lines of notes, use CTRL-Enter to start a new line. (Enter by itself will save the Notes field and close the dialog.)
Below the list, in the Calculate Properties for drop-down menu, do the following if your project contains a permanent magnet:

Select Permanent Magnet.
The Properties for Permanent Magnet dialog box appears.
Select which parameters you want to define (Mu, Hc, Br, Mp).
Type values in the text boxes, and select the units.
Click OK.
Note: An error message displays if your project type does not support permanent magnets.

For transient and 3D eddy current projects, you may also be able to set the core loss from the Calculate Properties for drop-down menu.
Click Validate Material.
Click OK.

The new material is added to the local material library.

Adding New Materials

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