Applying different materials to different areas

[srosset]

Hello,

I do have a question about using Ansys with a model made of different materials. I have a membrane which is on top of a frame. The membrane and the frame are made of different materials. So I defined the two materials models, selected the appropriate areas and applied the material model to them. When I plot the areas, with numbering on the materials, I can see my membrane in one color and my frame in another color, so all looks perfect.
The problem arises when I plot the lines according to material numbers : They all appear to be made of material number 1, but he! I didn’t give any indications about materials on line so it’s not surprising is it?
Well, but as lines are the borders of an area, wouldn’t be logical that if I assign a material to an area, then the surrounding lines should logically be made of that material? So I do need to manually assign materials number to lines, or isn’t it necessary? And what do I do with lines that are boundaries between two areas of different materials? They should be of both materials…
I am afraid I didn’t get the logic between the attribution of materials to area, and I’d be thankful if you could help me on that…

Thanks in advance!

 

[Drej]

If you assign a material to an area, it is only applicable to the area. Lines are not meshed with area elements (e.g. you wouldn't use shell63 to mesh a line), hence the lines should not show material numbers unless you assign materials to them (LATT command) - all should show MAT1 by default. Where there are two areas joined by a common line, again, if the lines are not meshed they will not be affected by the area material properties. So, simply, you don't need to assign a material number to anything unless you want to mesh it.

Cheers,

-- drej --

 

[srosset]

Thank you for your reply,

I indeed only mesh the areas, so I don't need to use the LATT command. I thought I had to, because I was applying loads on lines, but if I'm not mistaken, this doesn't matter becuse loads are transfered to the nodes, and the nodes are created during the meshing of the area and should therefore have the correct material properties.

Thank you for pointing that to me.

Samuel