How to Change Materials in Solidworks

How to Change Materials in Solidworks
How to Change Materials in Solidworks

Despite SOLIDWORKS’ substantial material collection, customers frequently need to design their own materials. Users are able to compute an exact mass or simulation of a part or assembly thanks to the flexibility to incorporate custom materials.

In SolidWorks, changing the material has an impact on the part’s mass characteristics. The component will weigh heavier if the material is denser.

Additionally, the cost will go up since some materials need to be painted before being utilized in a product. In this post, we’ll show you how to change and create new materials in SOLIDWORKS.

How to Change Materials in Solidworks

Standard material-change process

As seen in the picture below, changing the material in SOLIDWORKS is easy. Simply go to Features >> Material, right-click, and choose “edit Material”.

Features material edit material option

After then, SOLIDWORKS’s material database will manifest itself. There will be a variety of material categories present. The next step is to choose and enter the desired category. You may choose the material you want inside.

Material window zinc alloys properties

After you’ve chosen your material, click Apply to make changes to your component.

Material customization

You can build new materials using the Material Library’s customization features or by copying and changing the values of pre-existing materials. Select Edit Material by performing a right-click on the Material folder in the feature management design tree (or the Custom Properties tab).

Material window other alloys properties

Then choose New Library from the context menu when you right-click in the Material Library.

New library on media library

You can now select a name for your new library and a location to save it.

SOLIDWORKS needs to be directed to this new place so that it knows where to look for it. Your SOLIDWORKS System Options > File Locations > Material Databases is where you set the folder path.

NB: It is advised that everyone utilize the same Material Library if you work with other SOLIDWORKS users in order to maintain consistency. This is accomplished by putting it in a place for shared files that all users may view.

Folders for categories like Steel, Plastics, and Timber can be used to arrange materials. Just pick New Category from the context menu when you right-click on your new library to create a new category.

By choosing New Material from the context menu of a Category folder and inputting the material’s information, new materials may be created from scratch. An easier approach is to locate something like, right-click, choose Copy, then put it into a Category folder and modify its values as necessary.

Material window copy aluminum bronze

Each material in your own collection is completely editable, allowing you to alter its name (to make it more recognized), look, and mechanical characteristics. Save your work after making any changes.

Material window steel properties

Once you’ve saved your material, it will show up in the list of materials. Applying it is as simple as using the above-mentioned standard procedure.

Once you have created your material libraries, you could discover that you would want to examine all materials rather than navigating between them or looking through various libraries. You may sort by the library, category, or material by just doing a simple right-click on the grey materials area.

Adding Materials through Importing

Importing materials is another option to add materials. Using a material database that one of your peers has already generated or importing material attributes that have been prepared for SOLIDWORKS from a website are the two most likely reasons you would wish to utilize this approach.

  1. Find the “.sldmat” file for the material database you wish to import.
  2. Once you’ve found the material database, you can add the file path to the “Material Databases” in the System Options (as shown below) and point to it by copying it to a default directory or placing it in a “custom” location.

System options file locations

The new database is now listed when editing SOLIDWORKS materials.