Material properties are a key component of any analysis. Material properties determine how a model reacts to the structural or thermal loads applied in each analysis step.

Once you create a model, you must assign a material in the CATIA Part Design or Assembly Design workbench. After you assign a material, you can edit the properties to include characteristics specific to the current Abaqus analysis case. Basic isotropic Abaqus material properties include density and the coefficient of thermal expansion; you can also specify nonlinear material properties and complex linear properties. Finally, you can create CATIA V5 user materials with non-isotropic material properties to vary material behavior within composite shells.

Abaqus for CATIA V5 supports the following material types:

Material Type	Solids	Shells
Isotropic Material
Orthotropic Material 2D
Orthotropic Material 3D

You can apply orthotropic three-dimensional behavior along the default axes or you can apply this behavior along any user-defined coordinate system by specifying an orientation in the 3D Property dialog box.

The following tasks are discussed in this section:

• Assigning Material Properties

• Specifying Abaqus Material Properties

• Creating a Two-Dimensional Orthotropic User Material