How can I create a Custom Material Library in SOLIDWORKS?

There are about 200 materials in the stock material database included with SOLIDWORKS, but sometimes those are not enough. This article describes how to quickly and easily create your own material library.

Applying Materials

If you prefer to delve right into the topic of creating a custom material library, scroll down to the section titled Custom Material Library Folders. Otherwise, here's a short refresher on applying materials to models.

Materials can be added to part models by right clicking the Material folder near the top of the FeatureManager and selecting Edit Material. If no material has been assigned to the model, the Material folder will display "<not specified>", as shown in the image.

Once Edit Material is selected, the Material window will appear, a portion of which is shown here.

To apply a material to a part model, select the desired material and click the Apply button (not shown). Click the Close button when finished to close the Material window.

The Material Window Hierarchy

Materials are broken down into libraries. At minimum, there should be a SOLIDWORKS Materials folder, as shown in the image. This folder is referred to as a "Library". There may also be a SOLIDWORKS DIN Materials library. These libraries will have a white folder icon. Depending on the software bundle purchased, you may see other libraries, such as the green Sustainability folder. 

Custom Material Library Folders

There should be a blue Custom Materials folder present, especially considering it is one of the default folders created during the installation. If one does not exist, create your own. Right clicking anywhere in the left side of the Material window will show the menu for creating a New Library, as shown in the image. It's perfectly fine to have more than one custom library, if that is your wish.

A Common Error

A common error which occurs when attempting to create a new Material Library is related to the inability to write to the system folder SOLIDWORKS uses for it's default library location. That path is controlled in the File Location section of the SOLIDWORKS System Options, shown here.

To overcome issues creating a new Material Library, there are 2 options. One option is to save the new material database folder to one of the other paths listed under Material Databases. Paths starting with "C:\Program Files" will  likely not work, but paths starting with "C:\ProgramData" will.

Another option is to create your own folder at some location of your choosing, and save the database there. A shared server location would also be acceptable, assuming you have the appropriate permissions. If you decide to take this approach, SOLIDWORKS will conveniently add the path automatically to the Material Databases file location list.  

Custom Material Categories

The hierarchy of Library followed by Category followed by Material must be followed, so the next step is to create a Category. Common categories are Steel, Aluminum, Copper, and so on. Right click the top level blue library folder and select New Category. Give it a name of your choosing.

Custom Materials

Now you're ready to start adding custom materials, and there are a couple ways to tackle this. One method is to simply right click the desired category and select New Material. Give the material a name.

Another option is to copy and paste an existing material into your new category. This typically makes more sense, considering the whole reason materials get added is usually because they have characteristics which are slightly different from some other alloy that doesn't quite meet the requirements.

1. Right click the material to be copied
2. Select Copy
3. Right click the Category the material is to be added to
4. Select Paste.

Using Hot Keys...

1. Select the material to be copied
2. Press Ctrl-C
3. Select the Category the material is to be added to
4. Press Ctrl-V.

Modifying Properties

Now it's mostly a matter of modifying the property values shown in the following image. These will appear after selecting the newly created material. The Properties tab should be showing by default. Change the units to whatever you prefer, then tweak values as needed.

Save!

Don't forget to click that Save button, or your changes will be lost!

Where do those changes get saved to? The database file created earlier in this article. Creating a new library creates a new file with the name you gave it. It will have a ".sldmat" file extension. It's really nothing more than a text file. This custom material library file can easily be backed up or shared with others.

Happy Modeling!