Materials

Materials define the physical properties that determine how structural members behave under load. Each member must have a material assigned for analysis.

Opening the Material Library

Click the Materials button in the ribbon, or click the book icon next to the Material field in the Properties panel when a member is selected.

Material Library

The built-in library includes materials organised by region (Australia, Metric, Imperial):

  • Steel - Standard structural steel properties
  • Stainless Steel - Stainless steel grades
  • Aluminium - Standard aluminium properties
  • Timber - Sawn, glulam, LVL, and engineered timber from various regions

Material Properties

Each material defines:

  • Young's Modulus (E) - Stiffness of the material, determines deflection under load
  • Poisson's Ratio (ν) - Lateral strain ratio (typically 0.3 for steel)
  • Mass Density (ρ) - Mass per unit volume, used for self-weight calculations
  • Thermal Coefficient - Coefficient of thermal expansion

Adding Materials

Two ways to add materials:

  • From Library - Browse materials organised by region and select to add to your model
  • Custom - Click Create Custom in the library to define a material with your own properties (requires free account)

Assigning Materials

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

All selected members will be updated to use the chosen material.