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Capabilities / 02.2

Keep the source with
your material properties.

Compare candidate materials on Ashby charts, check their source data and keep the useful records in your library. Mechanical, thermal, moisture and processing properties stay with the material as you use it in a ply, laminate or process model.

02.2 / Workbench — Material property managementOpen full-size view ↗
Light-mode material comparison with eight records and colored Ashby groups

Eight selected reference records populate the comparison table and material-class plot. Sources and screening values must still be checked for design use.

Workbench capture · September 10, 2026. This capture shows the interface with demo data. It is not a new solver run or a validation certificate. Control locations may differ in later releases.

02.2 / How to use it

What to set, compare and check
01

Create and classify

Organize polymer, metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites separately from their constituents. Add a blank material, assign its type, and enter the mechanical, thermal, strength and source properties required by the selected model.

02

Compare metal and ceramic systems

Metal Matrix Composites and Ceramic Matrix Composites each contain three source-aware examples. Ceramics supplies three separate constituent records. Review each record’s property basis and temperature before using it in a ply or homogenization model.

03

Enter the property dependence

Use the property input controls to enter constants or a simplified temperature–property table with one shared lock. Show zero terms when stored zero-value fields must be completed. The selected units and classification travel with the record.

04

Describe how the polymer changes

Store thermoset cure or PEEK/PEKK crystallization kinetics, reaction heat, saturation, diffusivity, and anisotropic process-shrinkage data with the owning matrix or ply.

05

Reuse and exchange

Duplicate material records for variants, load selected records from another CDS file, and export compatible properties for spreadsheet or finite-element workflows.

Explore the models, connections and theory →

What to check and where it applies

  • Material type controls downstream interpretation and export
  • Source URL, citation, status, basis and notes can be assigned to each record
  • Supplier-supported data and editable CDS completion fields remain distinguishable
  • Polymer cure, crystallization and polymer-composite ASTM tests do not automatically apply to metal or ceramic systems
  • Generated lamina and laminate properties can be returned to the library
2D vector diagram of composite constituents, material properties, and downstream models
Reusable constituent and property records supply lamina, laminate, thermal, and structural models.
Controls and workflow details · 7 features
  • Property tree switches between mechanical, physical, transport, failure, cure/crystallization, cost, and processing data
  • Composite-vendor classes and Sandwich Structures organize bundled source-aware examples
  • Thermoset choices include nth-order, Kamal–Sourour, Prout–Tompkins, and diffusion-limited Kamal kinetics
  • Thermoplastic choices include single- and double-branch Nakamura/Avrami-style crystallization
  • Standard View edits one selected material; Table View compares and edits multiple records
  • Zero-term visibility exposes stored zero values for database completion
  • Up to ten temperature-property pairs can be stored for supported mechanical, physical, and transport properties
Next capability02.3 Micromechanics prediction