Assign Materials

By default, when you initially define your model boundaries, the properties of the first material in the Material Properties dialog will automatically be assigned to all regions of the model. However, in general, it will be necessary for the user to assign the desired material properties to the different material regions of your model.

There are three ways in which the assigning of material properties can be achieved:

1. Assign Properties dialog - the Assign Properties dialog, available by selecting Assign Materials in the toolbar or the Materials menu, can be used to assign material properties.
2. Properties Pane - with the desired geometry selected, the Properties Pane displays the current Applied Property. A new Material Property can be assigned to the selected geometry by changing the material selected from the Applied Property dropdown list.
3. Assign Materials Using Cutting Plane - this option allows you to assign materials to a 3D model using a moveable 2D section plane. You can click on regions in the 2D section plane to assign materials to the 3D model.

Assign Properties dialog

To assign material properties with the Assign Properties dialog:

1. Select the Geometry workflow tab.
2. Select Assign Materials from the toolbar or the Materials menu.
3. Make sure that Materials is selected in the drop-list at the top of the Assign Properties dialog.
4. In the dialog, select a material you would like to assign.
5. In the view window, place the cursor inside a material zone in your model, click the left mouse button, and select Apply. You will see that the zone will change to the colour of the assigned material.
6. To assign the same material to other areas of the model, repeat Step 5 as necessary. You may need to zoom or pan the view, in order to accurately select regions to assign.
7. If your model has multiple material types, repeat steps 4 to 6 to assign the desired materials to all the zones of the model.
8. When you are finished with the Assign Properties dialog, you can close it by selecting the X in the dialog, or by pressing Escape.

Properties Pane

To assign material properties using the Properties Pane:

1. Select the Geometry workflow tab.
2. Select Entity Selection as the Selection Mode.
3. Select the geometry for which to assign a different material property.
• You can click directly on geometry in one of the Viewports, OR
• Select the geometry to edit in the Visibility Pane.
4. In the Properties Pane, select the desired Material Property from the Applied Property drop-list.
5. The selected Material Property will be applied to the selected geometry.

Assign Materials Using Cutting Plane

This option allows you to assign material properties to a 3D model using a moveable 2D section plane. You can click on regions in the 2D section plane to assign materials to the 3D model. See the Assign Materials Using Cutting Plane topic.