Materials in SCIA Engineer

Defining and modifying materials

Contacts 3
Introduction to materials 4
Material types 5
Material properties 6
Basic material properties 6
Advanced material properties 6

Materials manager 7
Specifying the materials for the project 9
Defining a new code-specific material 10
Defining a new user-defined code-specific material 11
Defining a new general material 12
Editing the defined material 13
Copying the defined material 14
Changing the defined material 15
Deleting the defined material 16
Reviewing the defined material parameters 17

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 Contacts
SCIA nv SCIA Nederland B.V.
Industrieweg 1007 Wassenaarweg 40
3540 Herk-de-Stad 6843 NW ARNHEM
Belgium Netherlands

Nemetschek do Brasil Nemetschek Scia North America

Rua Dr. Luiz Migliano, 1986 - sala 702 , CEP 7150 Riverwood Drive
SP 21046 Columbia, MD
05711-001 So Paulo United States
Brazil

SCIA France sarl Nemetschek Scia Swiss Branch Office

Centre d'Affaires, 29 Grand' Rue Drenbergstrasse 24
59100 Roubaix 3212 Gurmels
France Switzerland

SCIA CZ s.r.o. Brno SCIA CZ s.r.o. Prague

Slavkova 827/1a Evropsk 2591/33d
638 00 Brno 160 00 Praha 6
Czech Republic Czech Republic

SCIA SK, s.r.o.

Murgaova 1298/16
010 01 ilina
Slovakia

Scia Datenservice Scia Software GmbH

Dresdnerstrasse 68/2/6/9 Technologie Zentrum Dortmund, Emil-Figge-Str. 76-80
1200 WIEN 44227 Dortmund
Austria Germany

All information in this document is subject to modification without prior notice. No part of this manual may be reproduced,
stored in a database or retrieval system or published, in any form or in any way, electronically, mechanically, by print, photo
print, microfilm or any other means without prior written permission from the publisher. SCIAis not responsible for any direct
or indirect damage because of imperfections in the documentation and/or the software.
Copyright 2016 SCIA nv. All rights reserved.

Document created: 18 / 02 / 2016

SCIA Engineer 15.3

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Chapter1

Introduction to materials
Material is one of the principal parameters that affect the behaviour of the structure.
In SCIA Engineer, the user can define his/her own material or use a pre- defined material type from SCIA Engineer data-
base. The predefined materials correspond to materials defined in particular technical codes. The properties of predefined
materials thus depend on the active code adjusted in the current project.

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 Material types

Material types
In SCIA Engineer the user may select from the following material types:

steel represents material based on a particular national code for materials

concrete represents material based on a particular national code for materials
timber represents material based on a particular national code for materials
enables the user to define an arbitrary material that is completely independent on codes assigned to the pro-
general
ject

Note: Even the properties of a code-based material may be edited.

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Chapter1

Material properties
For each material, the user must specify its properties. It is clear that for material types corresponding with material grades
of a particular technical code the properties are predefined.
The properties may be divided into two groups:

l basic material properties,

l advanced material properties.

Basic material properties

;The basic properties are those that are necessary for the standard finite element calculation of the model. Without them,
no analysis is possible.
The basic parameters are:

l unit mass,
l modulus of elasticity,
l Poissons coefficient.

Advanced material properties

The advanced parameters may be required for:

l either an advanced type of calculation (e.g. non-linear analysis, dynamic calculation, etc.),
l or checking to a particular technical code.

Examples of advanced parameters may be:

l independent G modulus,
l logarithmic decrement,
l nominal or design strength,
l ultimate strength,
l etc.

;There are also special material parameters that do not affect the calculation and results, but that may help the user to make
the model clearer. This is e.g. colour. The colour may be used when 1D members are displayed on the screen. Thus, all the
1D members made of the same material will be drawn in the same colour. The display style can be set in View parameters.

Note: ; The units for the individual material parameters may be set in Units setup.

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 Materials manager

Materials manager
The Materialsmanager is a tool that provides for control of material defined in the project. The Materials manager provides
for creating, editing, deleting, and saving of materials.
The manager itself uses the same "manager philosophy" as other SCIA Engineer managers do. It contains control buttons
for the standard manager operations:

[New] It creates a new material.

[Edit] It opens an editing dialogue where the materials properties may be changed.
[Copy] This function creates a copy of the selected material.
It enables the user to replace an existing material with a new one. All the members in the project that
[Change]
ware made of the original material are now made of the new one.
It removes the selected material from the project database. It is not possible to delete material that is
[Delete]
used anywhere in the structure.
[Undo] / [Redo] It performs an Undo or Redo operation.
;[Text Output] ;It opens a small document window with a table that summarises properties of selected materials.
[Read from sys-
It reads predefined materials from system database.
tem database]
[Read from user
It reads material types that the user has saved into his/her external database.
database]
[Save to user
It saves selected material types into the users external database.
database]

In order to open the Materials manager use:

l either menu function Tools > Materials,

l or tree menu function Tools > Materials,

l or button Materials ( ) on toolbar Project.

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Chapter1

Note: The Materials manager can also be opened from various property dialogues that con-
tain item Material. Such an item contains a button to open the Materials manager.

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 Specifying the materials for the project

Specifying the materials for the project

When a new project is being created, the user has to specify basic project parameters. Material is one of the compulsory
parameters. It is not necessary to specify all the materials that will be used. However, at least one material type must be
selected (e.g. steel).

The program adds into the project all material grades defined for the selected material type in the active code of the project.
The active code can be also defined in the project setup dialogue.
It is possible to add some material type in the same way any time later (i.e. not only during the phase of project creation). The
user may use tree menu function Project to open the Project settings dialogue. Here it is possible to add ticks to any other
material types that have not been selected at the beginning. Once again, the program adds into the project all materials that
are specified in the active national code for the selected material type.

Note: Unless the specific material type is selected in the project settings;, it is not possible to
add such material into the project. For example, unless timber is selected in the project set-
tings dialogue, the material manager does not allow the user to add any timber material.

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 Chapter1

Defining a new code-specific material

All the code specific materials (that means material grades for particular material types specified by a particular national tech-
nical code) are stored in the material system database.
The procedure for the definition of a new code-specific material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Click button [System database] ( ).

3. A dialogue with available materials appears on the screen. Its left hand side window shows that materials defined in the
project. The right hand side window lists all available code-specific materials.
4. Add as many materials into the project as required.
5. Close the System database dialogue.
6. Close the Materials manager.

Note: Unless the specific material type is selected in the project settings, it is not possible to
add such material into the project. For example, unless timber is selected in the project set-
tings dialogue, the material manager does not allow the user to add any timber material.

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 Defining a new user-defined code-specific material

Defining a new user-defined code-specific material

The user may need to define a material (related to a specific code) that does not coincide with any standard grade specified
in technical codes.
The procedure for the definition of a new user-defined code-specific material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Click button [New] ( ).

3. Select the required material type.
4. A new material is added to the List of defined materials in the Materials manager.

5. Click button [Edit] ( ).

6. The editing dialogue for the selected material is opened.
7. Type required parameters.
8. Confirm with [OK] button.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 9 as many times as required.
10. Close the Materials manager.

Note: Unless the specific material type is selected in the project settings, it is not possible to
add such material into the project. For example, unless timber is selected in the project set-
tings dialogue, the material manager does not allow the user to add any timber material.

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 Chapter1

Defining a new general material

The user may need to define any non-standard material that will be used for calculations. It wont be possible to use such
material for code checks, but it may be used for other calculations.
The procedure for the definition of a new general material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Click button [New] ( ).

3. Select the material type General.
4. A new material is added to the list of defined materials in the Materials manager.

5. Click button [Edit] ( ).

6. The editing dialogue for the selected material is opened.
7. Type required parameters.
8. Confirm with [OK] button.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 9 as many times as required.
10. Close the Materials manager.

Note: Unless the material type General is selected in the project settings, it is not possible to
add such material into the project.

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 Editing the defined material

Editing the defined material

The user may need to edit the properties of a particular material. It can be done in the ;Materials manager.
The procedure to edit the materials properties

1. Open the Materials manager.

2. Select the material that should be edited.

3. Click button [Edit] ( ).

4. The editing dialogue for the selected material is opened.
5. Type required parameters.
6. Confirm with [OK] button.
7. Repeat steps 2 to 6 as many times as required.
8. Close the Materials manager.

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 Chapter1

Copying the defined material

If necessary, it is possible to create a copy of any of the already defined materials. This copy may be later edited.
The procedure for the copying of a particular material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Select the material that should be copied.

3. Click button [Copy] ( ).

4. A copy of the selected material is added to the List of defined materials in the Materials manager.

5. Click button [Edit] ( ).

6. The editing dialogue for the selected material is opened.
7. Type required parameters.
8. Confirm with [OK] button.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 as many times as required.
10. Close the Materials manager.

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 Changing the defined material

Changing the defined material

Sometimes, the need may arise to replace a particular material with another one. E.g. to increase the grade of material
used for some structural members. The user must select the original material, specify the substituting material, and the pro-
gram applies the change to all affected members.
The procedure for the change of a particular material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Select the material to be changed.

3. Click button [Change] ( ).

4. Select the type of the substituting material.
5. The material is replaced.

6. If required, click button [Edit] ( ).

7. The editing dialogue for the selected material is opened.
8. Type required parameters.
9. Confirm with [OK] button.
10. Repeat steps 2 to 10 as many times as required.
11. Close the Materials manager.

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 Chapter1

Deleting the defined material

Any material that is no longer necessary may be deleted from the project.
The procedure for the deletion of a particular material

1. Open the ;Materials manager.

2. Select the material to be deleted.

3. Click button [Delete] ( ).

4. Confirm the action.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 as many times as required.
6. Close the Materials manager.

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 Reviewing the defined material parameters

Reviewing the defined material parameters

There are a few ways to see and scrutinise the parameters of a particular material.

;Property table in the Materials
manager
Property table in the dialogue
for editing of a material
;Document-style view in the pre-
view window
The Materials manager contains a vertically oriented window that displays the para-
meters of currently selected material in a property table.
Each dialogue for editing of a material contains a property table with all the available
parameters of the edited material.
This is the most sophisticated kind of display for parameters of a material.

Property table in the Materials manager

The property table in the Materials manager provides for quick overview of parameters of individual materials. It is possible
to edit some of the parameters.
Property table in the dialogue for editing of a particular material type
The property table in this dialogue provides for both lucid overview of the material parameters and their straightforward
modification.

Document-style view in the preview window

The material parameters can be displayed in tabular form in the Preview window. The preview window displays a table with
all the material parameters sorted in it.
The table is in fact a standard SCIA Engineer document table and consequently its format can be adjusted to meet any spe-
cific requirements. The adjustment can be done the same way as with any other document table.
The picture below shows a sample preview of material properties for three selected materials.

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Chapter1

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