# Orthotropic materials

**URL:** <https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-materials/3069>\
**Category:** Feature Requests\
**Created:** [November 6, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-materials/3069 "2025-11-06T09:56:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Richard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Richard](https://prepomax.discourse.group/u/Richard)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-materials/3069/1 "2025-11-06T09:56:42Z")

</div>

Hello everyone, I am a beginner in simulation. I want to simulate a 3D-printed cube that is printed by alternately laying one layer of PET and one layer of fiber, similar to a laminate. How should I simulate it in Prepmax?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FEAnalyst](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/prepomax.discourse.group/feanalyst/32/688_2.png) [@FEAnalyst](https://prepomax.discourse.group/u/FEAnalyst)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 10:00am UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-materials/3069/2 "2025-11-06T10:00:13Z")

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Orthotropic materials (and composite shells) are not yet available in PrePoMax and you would have to use the Keyword Editor to define them. Here’s the syntax for orthotropic elasticity:

```auto
*ELASTIC, TYPE=ENGINEERING CONSTANTS
E_1, E_2, E_3, v_12, v_13, v_23, G_12, G_13
G_23

```

You can find many examples on the forum. Such as: [https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-aterial-support/143](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/orthotropic-aterial-support/143) and [https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/structural-analysis-of-glulam/2255](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/structural-analysis-of-glulam/2255)