IfcMaterial

Semantic definitions at the entity

Entity definition

IfcMaterial is a homogeneous or inhomogeneous substance that can be used to form elements (physical products or their components).

IfcMaterial is the basic entity for material designation and definition; this includes identification by name and classification (via reference to an external classification), as well as association of material properties (isotropic or anisotropic) defined by (subtypes of) IfcMaterialProperties. An instance of IfcMaterial may be associated to an element or element type using the IfcRelAssociatesMaterial relationship. The assignment might either be direct as a single material information, or via

a material layer set
a material profile set
a material constituent set

An IfcMaterial may also have presentation information associated. Such presentation information is provided by IfcMaterialDefinitionRepresentation, associating curve styles, hatching definitions or surface colouring/rendering information to a material.

HISTORY New entity in IFC4

IFC4 CHANGE The attributes Description and Category have been added.

Attribute definitions

#	Attribute	Type	Cardinality	Description	R
1	Name	IfcLabel		Name of the material. EXAMPLE A view definition may require Material.Name to uniquely specify e.g. concrete or steel grade, in which case the attribute Material.Category could take the value 'Concrete' or 'Steel'. NOTE Material grade may have different meaning in different view definitions, e.g. strength grade for structural design and analysis, or visible appearance grade in architectural application. Also, more elaborate material grade definition may be associated as classification via inverse attribute HasExternalReferences.	X
2	Description	IfcText	?	Definition of the material in more descriptive terms than given by attributes Name or Category. IFC4 CHANGE The attribute has been added at the end of attribute list.	X
3	Category	IfcLabel	?	Definition of the category (group or type) of material, in more general terms than given by attribute Name. EXAMPLE A view definition may require each Material.Name to be unique, e.g. for each concrete or steel grade used in a project, in which case Material.Category could take the values 'Concrete' or 'Steel'. IFC4 CHANGE The attribute has been added at the end of attribute list.	X

Attribute

Type

Cardinality

Description

Name

IfcLabel

Name of the material.

EXAMPLE A view definition may require Material.Name to uniquely specify e.g. concrete or steel grade, in which case the attribute Material.Category could take the value 'Concrete' or 'Steel'.

NOTE Material grade may have different meaning in different view definitions, e.g. strength grade for structural design and analysis, or visible appearance grade in architectural application. Also, more elaborate material grade definition may be associated as classification via inverse attribute HasExternalReferences.

Description

IfcText

Definition of the material in more descriptive terms than given by attributes Name or Category.

IFC4 CHANGE The attribute has been added at the end of attribute list.

Inherited definitions from supertypes

Entity inheritance

Attribute inheritance

#	Attribute	Type	Cardinality	Description	R
IfcMaterialDefinition
	AssociatedTo	IfcRelAssociatesMaterial @RelatingMaterial	S[0:?]	Use of the IfcMaterialDefinition subtypes within the material association of an element occurrence or element type. The association is established by the IfcRelAssociatesMaterial relationship. IFC4 CHANGE The inverse attribute has been added.
	HasProperties	IfcMaterialProperties @Material	S[0:?]	Material properties assigned to instances of subtypes of IfcMaterialDefinition. IFC4 CHANGE The inverse attribute has been added.	X
IfcMaterial
1	Name	IfcLabel		Name of the material. EXAMPLE A view definition may require Material.Name to uniquely specify e.g. concrete or steel grade, in which case the attribute Material.Category could take the value 'Concrete' or 'Steel'. NOTE Material grade may have different meaning in different view definitions, e.g. strength grade for structural design and analysis, or visible appearance grade in architectural application. Also, more elaborate material grade definition may be associated as classification via inverse attribute HasExternalReferences.	X
2	Description	IfcText	?	Definition of the material in more descriptive terms than given by attributes Name or Category. IFC4 CHANGE The attribute has been added at the end of attribute list.	X
3	Category	IfcLabel	?	Definition of the category (group or type) of material, in more general terms than given by attribute Name. EXAMPLE A view definition may require each Material.Name to be unique, e.g. for each concrete or steel grade used in a project, in which case Material.Category could take the values 'Concrete' or 'Steel'. IFC4 CHANGE The attribute has been added at the end of attribute list.	X

Formal representations

XML Specification

 <xs:element name="IfcMaterial" type="ifc:IfcMaterial" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcMaterialDefinition" nillable="true"/>

 <xs:complexType name="IfcMaterial">

  <xs:complexContent>

   <xs:extension base="ifc:IfcMaterialDefinition">

    <xs:attribute name="Name" type="ifc:IfcLabel" use="optional"/>

    <xs:attribute name="Description" type="ifc:IfcText" use="optional"/>

    <xs:attribute name="Category" type="ifc:IfcLabel" use="optional"/>

   </xs:extension>

  </xs:complexContent>

 </xs:complexType>

EXPRESS Specification


ENTITY IfcMaterial

 SUBTYPE OF (IfcMaterialDefinition);

  Name : IfcLabel;

  Description : OPTIONAL IfcText;

  Category : OPTIONAL IfcLabel;

 INVERSE

END_ENTITY;

 EXPRESS-G diagram

Item	SPF	XML	Change	Description
4.0.0.0
IfcMaterial
Description			ADDED
Category			ADDED

	Material
	Material
	Matériau