FEM MaterialEditor

Nonlinear mechanical material

Beam cross section

FEM

Material_editor
Menu location
Model → Material → Material editor
Workbenches
FEM
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
-
See also
FEM tutorial

Description

The Material Editor allows you to edit and save the information contained in a FreeCAD material. Currently such materials are used by the FEM and Arch workbenches.

File:Material editor.jpg

How to use

The material editor can currently be accessed by:

• Arch Workbench:
  • The Edit material button of the new material creation panel of the Arch Workbench
• FEM Workbench:
  • The menu Models → Material → Material editor
  • The icon Material editor
• Via python:

Scripting

import MaterialEditor
MaterialEditor.openEditor()

Options

• Browser button: Opens the contents of the URL property in a browser
• Material card: Allows to choose a preset to fill in the fields
• Open: Opens a .FCMat file
• Save as: Saves the contents of the editor as a new .FCMat file
• Preview: Not implemented yet
• Properties editor: Allows to edit the contents of the material properties
• Add property: Allows to add a new custom property
• Delete property: Deletes a selected property. Only custom properties can be deleted

Note:

• The OK and Cancel buttons have the same effect when the Material editor is not used to edit directly the material property of an existing object.

User documentation

• Getting started
• Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
• Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate

---

• Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
• Workbenches: Std Base, Arch, Assembly, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Start, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework, Web

---

• Addons: Addon Manager, External workbenches, Scripting and macros

---

• Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub

Nonlinear mechanical material

Beam cross section

FEM

FEM

• FEM Analysis

• Materials: Solid, Fluid, Nonlinear mechanical, Reinforced (concrete); Material editor

• Element geometry: Beam (1D), Beam rotation (1D), Shell (2D), Fluid flow (1D)

---

Constraints

• Electromagnetic: Electrostatic potential, Current density, Magnetization

• Fluid: Initial flow velocity, Initial pressure, Flow velocity

• Geometrical: Plane rotation, Section print, Transform

• Mechanical: Fixed, Displacement, Contact, Tie, Spring, Force, Pressure, Centrif, Self weight

• Thermal: Initial temperature, Heat flux, Temperature, Body heat source

• Overwrite Constants: Constant vacuum permittivity

---

• Mesh: Mesh Netgen, Mesh GMSH, Mesh boundary layer, Mesh region, Mesh group, Nodes set, Mesh to mesh

• Solve: CalculiX Standard, Elmer, Mystran, Z88; Equations: Deformation, Elasticity, Electrostatic, Electricforce, Magnetodynamic, Magnetodynamic 2D, Flow, Flux, Heat; Solver: Solver control, Solver run

• Results: Purge, Show; Postprocessing: Apply changes, Pipeline from result, Warp filter, Scalar clip filter, Function cut filter, Region clip filter, Contours filter, Line clip filter, Stress linearization plot, Data at point clip filter, Filter function plane, Filter function sphere, Filter function cylinder, Filter function box

• Utilities: Clipping plane, Remove clipping planes, Open FEM examples; Mesh clear, Mesh display info

---

• Additional: Preferences; FEM Install, FEM Mesh, FEM Solver, FEM CalculiX, FEM Concrete; FEM Element Types