# Problem in "Edit Calculix keywords"

**URL:** <https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/problem-in-edit-calculix-keywords/2383>\
**Category:** General Questions\
**Created:** [January 14, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/problem-in-edit-calculix-keywords/2383 "2025-01-14T18:58:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gnikol](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/prepomax.discourse.group/gnikol/32/3970_2.png) [@gnikol](https://prepomax.discourse.group/u/gnikol)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/problem-in-edit-calculix-keywords/2383/1 "2025-01-14T18:58:38Z")

</div>

Hi,  
I’m trying to enter an orthotropic material (wood) in an example using the “Edit Calculix keywords”.  
I first declare an elastic material in Prepomax. The materials section automatically generated by PrePoMax in the Calculix input file is like this:

\*Material, Name=Material-1  
\*Elastic 22000000000, 0.35  
\*Density 800

In order to declare the orthotropic material I have to enter something like this:

\*ELASTIC, TYPE=ENGINEERING CONSTANTS  
22000000000., 370000000., 370000000., 0.35, 0.02, 0.02, 1400000000., 1400000000., 1400000000.

If I declare a new material with another name, of course it is not recognizable back in Prepomax, so I cannnot assign it to the elements of my structure.

I can’t modify the line \*Elastic generated by PrePoMax, so I decided to add a new \*Elastic below the existing one, hoping the new declaration could overwrite the previous one. Now the materials section looks like this:

\*Material, Name=Material-1  
\*Elastic 22000000000, 0.35  
\*ELASTIC, TYPE=ENGINEERING CONSTANTS 22000000000., 370000000., 370000000., 0.35, 0.02, 0.02, 1400000000., 1400000000., 1400000000.  
\*Density 800

But without sucess. The Analysis is crushing.  
Is there some other way to declare the orthotropic material?

Thanks in advance,  
George Nikolaidis

---

<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:** [January 14, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/problem-in-edit-calculix-keywords/2383/2 "2025-01-14T19:07:22Z")

</div>

You can create a material with no properties and then add `*ELASTIC` under it in the Keyword Editor.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gnikol](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/prepomax.discourse.group/gnikol/32/3970_2.png) [@gnikol](https://prepomax.discourse.group/u/gnikol)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://prepomax.discourse.group/t/problem-in-edit-calculix-keywords/2383/3 "2025-01-15T10:56:59Z")

</div>

Works perfect! Thank you!