Material input uses an event series that describes how the roller moves across the powder bed and deposits material. You can provide an external document that contains the event series data, or the Powder Bed Fabrication app can supply it. The addition of the material controls the activation of elements during the simulation. You can control the fraction of material that activates the element and whether the elements are partially or fully activated when enough material is added. You have access to additional controls, such as whether the elements remain in their initial positions when they are activated, or whether they follow the position of previously activated elements. You can also control the time increment over which thermal strains are ramped up when the element is turned on. If you create the simulation with a build setup from the Powder Bed Fabrication app, this app generates the event series that controls the element activation, and the material input feature selects it by default. You have the option to override this event series with an external event series if you so desire. This feature is shared between the thermal and mechanical analysis cases to ensure that the element activation is synchronized between the thermal and mechanical analyses. | |||||||