How to Use Physical Materials in BricsCAD BIM

Quick answer: Open the Physical Materials dialog by launching BLMATERIALS, using the hamburger menu in the BIM Compositions panel and choosing Open material dialog, or clicking Browse next to the Material property of a selected mechanical block in the Mechanical Browser panel. Worth distinguishing clearly from Render Materials, covered elsewhere in this hub: Physical Materials govern composition plies and mechanical block materials specifically, a separate system from the general rendering material library.

Creating Physical Materials

Create new materials in either the project or central database, either from scratch or as a copy of an existing one.

From scratch: select a material in the In project or In central database list, then click New Material or right-click and choose New Material; a material named New adds to the selected database, ready to edit.

As a copy: select a material, right-click it, and choose Duplicate; a material named <existing_material>-2 adds to the selected database.

Editing a Physical Material

Select the material to edit in the In project or In central database list, then work across three tabs.

Identity tab: type a Name, select a Class from the dropdown (click Browse beside it to open the Material Classes dialog and create new classes), and optionally type a Description.

Appearance tab:

• Section settings define how the section boundary lines fill in generated 2D sections. Choose a Hatch Pattern Type (None, Solid, Linear, Predefined, or Custom), select the pattern by clicking its preview or choosing from the Hatch Pattern Name dropdown, set Hatch Pattern Space (Linear only), Hatch Pattern Scale, and Hatch Pattern Angle, choose a Layer, and optionally tick Cross (Linear only) and Annotative, and choose a Hatch Background Color. Worth noting: the final pattern scale in a section is the product of the material’s own Scale setting and the BIM section’s Scale property, so the printed hatch scale stays independent of the section plane’s scale.
• Elevation settings work the same way, defining elevation fill of the background lines (requires Generate elevation fill active on the section’s viewport), except there’s no Scale setting, elevation hatch is independent of the BIM section’s Scale property entirely.
• 3D settings define the rendering material used in the 3D model; double-click the preview image to select one in the Select Render Material dialog.

Properties tab: edit the comma-separated, case-sensitive Tags field, or click Browse for the Tags dialog (New Item, Edit, Delete, Move Up, Move Down). Optionally expand and fill in Information properties and Physical properties. Under BIM properties:

• Union section / Union elevation: Yes removes connection lines between different solids of this same material in sections or elevations respectively; No keeps them.
• Function: choose from the dropdown.
• Variable thickness: Yes allows the material’s ply thickness to adapt when a composition containing it is applied to a solid, so the composition’s total thickness matches the solid’s original thickness. No means that when a composition where every ply has fixed thickness is applied to a solid instead, the solid’s own thickness adapts to match the composition’s total thickness, the reverse of the Yes case, and a further detail beyond the general locking behaviour covered on this hub’s BIM compositions page.
• Thickness: a default value.

Click OK to finish.

Copying Materials Between Databases

1. Select the materials in the source database (hold Ctrl for multiple).
2. Drag them to the target database; if any already exist there, an alert lets you overwrite, duplicate, or skip each one (duplicates get an index number appended to their name).

Applying Physical Materials

For solids and BIM entities, add the material to a composition as a ply first, then apply that composition to the entity:

1. Open the Compositions dialog (BLCOMPOSITIONS).
2. Create a new composition or select an existing one to edit.
3. Click Add ply; the Physical Materials dialog opens.
4. Select the material and click OK.
5. Click OK to close the Compositions dialog.
6. Apply the composition using BIMATTACHCOMPOSITION, or by dragging and dropping it from the BIM Compositions panel onto the entity.

For mechanical blocks, apply the material via the Mechanical Browser panel:

1. Open the Mechanical Browser panel (MECHANICALBROWSEROPEN).
2. Select the mechanical block.
3. Find its Material property.
4. Click Select material next to it; the Physical Materials dialog opens.
5. Select a material and click OK.

Deleting Physical Materials

1. In the Physical Materials dialog, select the materials in the project or library database.
2. Click Delete.

Materials currently used in a BIM composition or mechanical block can’t be deleted.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a fixed-thickness composition doesn’t match the solid’s actual thickness? With Variable thickness set to No on every ply, the solid’s own thickness adapts to match the composition’s total thickness instead.

Can I delete a physical material that’s currently used somewhere in my model? No, materials used in a BIM composition or a mechanical block can’t be deleted.

Does a material’s section hatch scale change if I resize the section plane? No, the printed pattern scale is the product of the material’s own Scale setting and the BIM section’s Scale property, keeping it independent of the section plane’s scale.

How is a Physical Material different from a Render Material? Physical Materials govern composition plies and mechanical block materials specifically. Render Materials, covered elsewhere in this hub, are a separate system focused on visual appearance for rendering.