Creating Material Databases

Adding Database Objects

You can add material database objects to the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ simulation manually.

1. To create a material database object, right-click on the Material Databases manager node and select New Material Database...
   
   
   

   A new, empty node appears with the default name matl.

   
   
   

   Subsequent objects have default names that are concatenated with a number, and can be renamed.

2. To populate this database from within the GUI, create folders. Right-click on the database node and select New Folder. You can then rename the folders as required to organize your database materials.
3. Once you have prepared the folders, right-click each one to select the database material to create. The database material objects have default names that are based on the type that is selected by right-click action, concatenated with numbers. Rename these objects according to the database materials you want them to represent. Make entries in both the Symbol and Title properties, though your choice of symbol entry is the more important.
4. Next, open the database material nodes, select the database material property nodes and enter values for the properties. If you are setting up multiple database materials that have similar properties, you can use the copy-and paste technique as follows:
   1. Create one of the database materials and set up all its property values.
   2. Right-click on the node of the database material and select Copy.
   3. Create another node for the similar database material.
   4. Right-click that newer node and select Paste. It has all the properties and subobjects of the previous database material.
   5. Adjust the properties of that newer database material as needed.

   Using the File path property of the database object, you can select the file path of your new database file from among the following locations:

   • The root directory
   • The Simcenter STAR-CCM+ installation directory
   • The same location as the current simulation file
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   However, the database you create is not saved until you explicitly export it to an external file. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ reminds you of this fact in the tooltip and Properties window description area for every database object, whether the database it represents is saved or not.

   
   
   

To export your new database into an external file, simply right-click on the node and select Save.

The file is saved in .mdb format with a default name matching the name of the corresponding node.

Sample Material Database File

A material database file (with .mdb extension) stores information in XML format. An example is given below. For any given species, each material property can be specified using different methods (e.g. constant, polynomial).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<!-- Starccm+ Material Data Base version 3.0 -->
<MaterialDataBase title = "sample">
     <DataBaseFolder title = "Gases">
       <Species title="Air" symbol="Air" phase="Gas">
         <MolecularWeight value= "28.9664" />
         <SpecificHeat>
           <Constant value= "1003.62" />
           <Polynomial nInterval="1">
             <Coefficients size="5">
               <range> 100 1000</range>
               <coeffs> 909.528 0.326873 -0.000102708 1.50057e-08 -8.02287e-13  </coeffs>
               <exponents> 0 1 2 3 4  </exponents>
             </Coefficients>
           </Polynomial>
         </SpecificHeat>
         <Density value= "1.18415" />
       </Species>
       <Species title="Methane" symbol="CH4" phase="Gas">
         <CriticalPressure value= "4.595e+06" />
         <DynamicViscosity value= "1.11906e-05" />
       </Species>
     </DataBaseFolder>
</MaterialDataBase>

Each material property in a Simcenter STAR-CCM+ material database file is identified using a unique tag.