Find Similar Material Dialog Box

Use the Find Similar Material dialog box to search for similar materials by property conditions and values. Sustainability provides real-time feedback on the environmental impact of the original material versus the selected material.

To display this dialog box:

In the Sustainability Task Pane, under Material, click Find Similar.

Search Criteria
Property Lists the material properties, for example, specific heat, elastic modulus, and so on.
Condition Sets the Property condition used to find materials that are similar to the Value of the original material. For example, you can search for materials with a greater tensile strength compared to the value of the original material. Settings include any, >, <, and ~.
Value  
Units  
Find Similar button Set the search criteria for Condition and Value, and then click this button to display a list of similar materials based on your settings.

Similar Materials List

When you click Find Similar in the search criteria section, the list of similar materials appears. Select materials from the list to see how they compare to the environmental impact of the original material in the Environmental Impact dashboard.

Show only selected Filters the list of similar materials to display only the materials you select . The list contains material properties and their values, such as thermal expansion coefficient, specific heat, density, and so on. The Original material appears in the top row above the list of similar materials.


Environmental Impact Dashboard

The dashboard provides real-time feedback about the environmental impact of the materials from the Find Similar Material dialog box. This dashboard is similar to the Environmental Impact dashboard in the Sustainability Task Pane.



Pie charts and comparison bars Pie charts display the environmental impact of the material you selected in the Similar Materials list. The bars compare the selected material (Selected) to the material with which you launched Find Similar (Original).
Material Financial Impact Compares the financial impact of the selected material (Selected) to the material with which you launched Find Similar (Original).
Manufacturing Process Sets the manufacturing process for the selected material.
Units Sets the units used to display values for the selected material.
Accept Populates the Material section of the SustainabilityTask Pane with the Class and Name of the selected material and closes the Find Similar Material dialog box.
Edit Clears the list of similar materials and displays the default search criteria box so you can perform a new search for similar materials using different settings.
Cancel Closes the Find Similar Material dialog box.