Use the Switch node (
) to switch between materials during a solver sweep. You add the materials as subnodes under the
Switch node. Right-click to add a
Blank Material or select
Add Material from Library to select materials from the libraries in the
Add Material window.
The switch for materials acts essentially as a switch statement in a programming language; that is, it dynamically selects one of its underlying branches depending on a parameter that can be controlled from the solvers, using a Material Sweep study. The parameter name is constructed based on the tag of the Switch node, using the special namespace
matsw. For example, the parameter controlling a Switch node on the global level will typically be
matsw.sw1, while for a component-level Switch it will be
matsw.comp1.sw1.
The Switch node’s
Settings window contains the following sections:
This section lists all of the material properties that are defined for the material or required by the physics in the model on domains where the Switch node is the active domain material. The table lists the
Property,
Name,
Value, and
Unit for the material property as well as the
Property group to which the material property belongs. The
Property group corresponds to the subnodes in the
Model Builder with the same name. If required, edit the values or expression for the property’s
Value.
The list includes properties that are defined by any of the materials under the Switch node. The left column provides visual cues about the status of each property: