An important step in the setup of your model is the definition of the physical properties of the material(s) being modeled. Material properties are defined in the Material data menu, which allows you to input values for the properties that are relevant to the type of problem you are defining. For example, input of thermal properties such as conductivity will be possible only if you are modeling nonisothermal flow or heat conduction in a solid region. Note that the option to change the system of units for the model, which appears in the Material data menu, is described in Unit Systems.

In addition to the basic specification of properties as constant values or linear functions of coordinates, it is also possible to specify properties as more complicated algebraic functions. This capability is described in detail in Specifying Material Properties as Algebraic Functions.

Once you have defined the material properties for your model, it is possible to save them to a file for use in another model, as described in Reading and Writing Material Data Files.

It is also possible to determine the appropriate property inputs based on experimental or other external data. See Curve Fitting for Material Properties for more information.