Select Existing Materials

When you perform an environmental deterioration (ED) analysis for a structural item, you can use the Select Existing Materials window to either copy or link to a material evaluation that has already been performed for another SSI. (For information about how to perform a new evaluation, see Materials Properties Window.)

To access the Select Existing Materials window from an ED (Metals) or ED (Non-Metals) analysis, choose Structures > Materials > Add Existing Materials.

To use the window:

• Select the data source. You can select a material evaluation from the current project, another project in the current database or another project in a different database.
  • If you are selecting from a different database, an address bar will become enabled. Click the arrow to select from a list of recently accessed databases or click the browse button () to select any standard database (*.rsr21) or enterprise database connection file (*.rserp).

• If you are not selecting from the current project, use the Select Project drop-down list to select the project that contains the material evaluation you wish to copy or link to.
• The Search Criteria area allows you to choose one of the material evaluation's general properties (Name, Heat Treatment, Specification or Surface Finish) to filter by.
  • The first drop-down list allows you to choose which property.
  • The second drop-down list displays the options that will determine a match (e.g., contains, begins with, etc.).
• If you are selecting from the current project or from another project in the same database, the Copy or Link area provides two choices:
  • Select Copy material properties if you want to create a new (independent) evaluation that has all the same properties as the existing one. If you later make a change to either evaluation, the other will not be affected.
  • Select Link to existing material if you want to link directly to the existing material evaluation. If you later make a change to the original evaluation, any other analyses that link to this material will be updated automatically.

If you are selecting from another database, the only option is to copy the properties and create a new (independent) evaluation in the current database.

• As you make these selections, the bottom part of the window displays the existing material evaluations s that meet your criteria. Select the materials you want to use and then click OK.