How to Search for Materials in SOLIDWORKS 2020

The Material dialog now includes a Search bar in SOLIDWORKS 2020.  While it’s a subtle change, this can save you time when defining different materials in your model or SOLIDWORKS Simulation study.  The search functionality will include results from the default SOLIDWORKS material databases as well as any custom material databases.

Within each material database, sub-folders are listed for each category (i.e. steel, aluminum).  Expanding each category will provide all the available materials.  Some categories have many materials listed, such as Steel.  This can make it difficult to find the material to use.

SOLIDWORKS Material Database

The new Search box in SOLIDWORKS 2020 filters the results to make for a cleaner and easier selection.  Only databases, categories and materials that match the keywords will be listed.

SOLIDWORKS 2020 Material Search

Use fewer keywords as results are specific to order of the material name.  For example searching for ‘Steel 4130’ will not find any results, where ‘AISI 4130’ or ‘4130 Steel’ would be found.  Yet ‘4130’ is even better.