Materials

Define material properties for your structural members.

Material Properties

Each material defines:

  • Elastic Modulus (E): Stiffness of the material
  • Shear Modulus (G): Resistance to shear deformation
  • Poisson's Ratio (ν): Lateral strain ratio
  • Density (ρ): Mass per unit volume (for self-weight)

Managing Materials

Open the Materials dialog from the right sidebar or menu:

  • Add: Create a new material
  • Edit: Modify existing material properties
  • Delete: Remove unused materials
  • Duplicate: Copy a material as a starting point

Built-in Materials

Common materials are pre-defined:

  • Steel: E = 200 GPa, G = 77 GPa, ρ = 7850 kg/m³
  • Aluminum: E = 70 GPa, G = 26 GPa, ρ = 2700 kg/m³
  • Concrete: E = 25 GPa, G = 10.4 GPa, ρ = 2400 kg/m³
  • Wood: E = 12 GPa, G = 0.75 GPa, ρ = 600 kg/m³

Assigning Materials

  1. Select one or more members
  2. In the Properties panel, click the Material dropdown
  3. Select the desired material

Material Colors

Each material can have an assigned color for visualization. This helps identify different material types in the model view.