Materials window

The Materials window is used to create and maintain the list of project specific material properties.
The list of materials offered in this window can be synchronised with materials directly entered and used in the model, thus all materials constituting the component are displayed here also.
Materials can be merged from other projects and combined in this list.

The primary use of this window is to prepare lists of materials which, in cooperation with other windows, allow significant simplification and acceleration during the input of element properties for material boxes. Materials already prepared within another project can be merged to the list also.

Upper part of the window lists materials. The bottom part - Material Editor - allows definition of material properties.

Important: Changes to material properties in the project specific materials list do not automatically propagate to properties of construction elements. Applying new material properties to selected elements must be done explicitly - either by a double-click onto a list item, via a drag-drop operation from the material list or by the bulk replacement of properties.

Remark: Additional materials can be also selected from Material Database window by drag-drop from database (Material Database can be opened from the Tab "Material DB"). Dropping some material identical to the one in the list will be inhibited.

Material list

A double-click onto a line representing material in this window results in an assignment of material properties of selected material to currently selected material elements (selected from elements list).

Also, by drag-drop operation (by dragging with the mouse), a material line can be dragged onto element editor window resulting in assignment of material properties to the element currently shown there.

Materials window can be opened either from main menu View→Data Input & Entry→Materials or from element editor by a double-click onto material name, conductivity and other material property input fields.

Remark: If there are several elements selected (from element list) then a double-click onto the material line (or drag-drop of material line) result in the assignment of material properties to all selected elements. Such bulk element assignment has to be confirmed by the user. If within selected elements there are some of incompatible type (non material) further user confirmation is requested. Error message is shown if neither element matches the expected type.

New	Appends a new material onto the end of the material list
Delete	Deletes the currently selected material from the list. Remark: The material is deleted from the material list only.
Undo (Ctrl-Z)	Undoes (reverts) the latest action(s) in the given editing context.
Redo (Ctrl-Y)	Redoes (reapplies) the action lately undone in the given editing context.
	Selects First, Previous, Next or Last material.

Material selection

A click onto material's line in the material list selects corresponding material for further processing.

Selection can be done by arrow keys or by clicking the buttons Next/Prev. also.

Functions of the context menu

Synchronisation of material list

The list of materials offered in this window can be synchronized (extended) with materials currently in use in the modelled component, thus all materials used in the model are also displayed. This provides the ability to transfer properties directly entered in element editor to the list and have them at hand as additional entries.

Synchronisation can be explicitly requested from the context menu of the material list ("Synch. from Elements") or will automatically be executed on each  element selection change when the application setting "Autosynch. from Elements" is active.

Synchronisation executes by following steps:

• All elements of modelled component are analysed.
• Material properties of each material element are extracted.
• If no such material (name, lambda, my) can be found in material list it is appended to it.
• Materials appended during this synchronisation run and appended at the end of the list are sorted alphabetically.

This procedure assures, that entries are retained in the list and only "missing" materials will extend it.

Remark: Automatic synchronisation of list contents, if active, occurs on each element selection change. Changes to element properties (in Element Editor) alone do not result in automatic synchronisation yet. Immediate synchronisation can be explicitly requested from the context menu of the material list ("Synch. from Elements").

Tip: To have the list showing only materials actually used in the modelled component delete all materials from the list (this can be quickly done with DEL-key) and then request immediate synchronisation from component's elements. Unused materials are not removed automatically from the list!

Remark: Even if values of ρ (density) and c (heat capacity) are transferred from material database, these values cannot be modified unless the  licence feature HARMONIC or TRANSIENT is available (these data is not used during nor required for the steady state simulation).

See also: Element Editor, Elements 2D, Element list, Material Editor

Material Editor window

Material Editor is used to maintain properties of material. This window is displayed as part of materials window.

Material Name	Name of material. It is used for documentation purpose.
λ (lambda)	Thermal Conductivity of the material.
μ (mue)	Water vapour diffusion resistance of the material.
ρ (rho)	Mass density of the material.
c (ce)	Heat capacity of the material.
Colour and AutoColour	Provides the ability to assign any distinctive colour to the element identifying it in graphical views and evaluations. To select the colour click onto the coloured rectangle labelled "Colour" - it will expose colour selection dialog. Remark: By default the colour is automatically assigned when change to lambda value is applied, based on predefined colour table. Removing the checkmark will turn the "auto-colour by lambda" application setting off thus assigned colour will be retained during changes to the value of lambda.
New	Adds a new entry to the material list and selects it for editing.
Delete	Deletes the currently selected material from material list.
Prev.	Selects previous material in the material list for editing.
Next	Selects next material in the material list for editing.

Important: Changes to material properties in the project specific material list do not automatically propagate to properties of construction elements. Applying new material properties to selected elements must be done explicitly - either by a double-click onto a material list item or via a drag-drop operation from material list .

Remark: The equivalent heat conductivity of small air cavities and air gaps can be calculated with the air cavity calculator tool.

Note: You shall switch between input fields by using the TAB-key. Using that key confirms the data entry. On the other hand it provides a good alternative compared to permanent mouse use.

See also: Materials window, Air Cavity Calculator (Tool)