Materials and Multibody Parts

For a multibody part, you can apply a material to the entire part, which affects all bodies in the part, or to one or more individual bodies.

How part operations affect material assignments:

Assigning a material to a part	Bodies without an assigned material inherit the part material.
Assigning a material to a body	The body material overrides the part material.
Creating a mirror part	All part and body material assignments are copied from the original part to the mirror part.
Inserting a multibody part	Body material assignments are retained. Bodies without material assignments inherit the material from the original part. The original part material is not copied into the new part.
Splitting a part	When you save to multiple files, each file contains one body, which is assigned its material or its inherited part material. The assignment is made at the part level. The new part has an external reference. To change the material of a body, do one of the following: Change the material in the master model. Show the Solid Bodies folder and change the material at the body level. Break the external reference and change the material at the part level.

For more information about materials, see SOLIDWORKS Help: Materials Overview.