CES EduPack Information Resources
To help students get started quicker, an intuitive graphical start screen helps them choose the most appropriate database, including the new sustainability database. More »
For introductory teaching, a simpler database structure at level one makes browsing easier, and there is greater differentiation between levels one and two. More »
For advanced teaching, there are new material properties and processing cost model improvements. A new 'condition' property describes heat treatments (complete with design and science note). More »
At the heart of CES EduPack is the CES EduPack software and at the heart of the software is a database containing materials property and process information and supporting 'science notes'.
Every student or teacher of an engineering, materials, or design-related subject can benefit from the general property and process information available in CES EduPack's Standard Edition. A range of specialist property data provides extra support for specific subject areas, including polymers, aerospace, eco properties, and architecture. Additionally, the Elements database supports engineering, materials, or physics courses with more materials depth, providing property information for all of the elements of the periodic table.
New in 2013: The new start-screen helps student navigate quickly to the appropriate level,
or to the specialist databases available in each Edition (The databases available will reflect those installed locally).
There are versions of EduPack in a number of different languages. In these versions, the contents of some of the following information resources are translated.
More information: CES EduPack en français | auf Deutsch | en español.
General property and process information
CES EduPack Standard Edition includes the Materials and Processes Database—a unique, comprehensive, browsable information resource covering engineering materials (ceramics, metals and alloys, composites, polymers and elastomers) and processes (shaping, joining, surface treatment). For each material or process, the database contains descriptive text, explanatory images, and technical, economic, and eco properties.
Viewing the level one materials database. The tree view on the left displays all of the materials.
The datasheets display the records, linked to text-book style science notes—click to enlarge.
Three different 'levels' of the database are available to support learning needs at different points in the curriculum. Higher levels contain more material and process records (3,750 at level 3), with each record containing more information than its equivalent at a lower level. Every record contains text providing background on the material or process, its applications, and guidelines for its use in design and manufacturing. Material records contain images of products that use the material, helping the student to make an instant connection to real-world applications. Process records contain images illustrating the process. The database is thus much more than a simple source of quantitative property data. It is a unique resource for learning about materials and processes.
Of course, the database is also a comprehensive source of quantitative property data. And that data has one other valuable feature—there are no 'holes'. Missing values are estimated (and this fact is noted in the datasheet). This means that the database can be used to compare, analyze, and select materials and processes without the risk that studies will be incomplete due to missing data. Such materials analysis can be performed using the tools in the CES EduPack software.
As well as explaining materials and processes, the database helps students to explore the relationships between them. Every material record is linked to the processes that can be applied to it. Conversely, every process is linked to materials to which it can be applied.
The three levels of the Materials and Processes Database
| LEVEL 1 | LEVEL 2 | LEVEL 3 | |
| Who for? | Introductory-level students | Intermediate-level students | Advanced/graduate students |
| Provides | Introduction to the ‘world’ of materials and processes | Structured methodology for more in-depth investigations | The full materials and process database, as used in industry, with added design notes |
| Purpose | Stimulates exploration of the world of materials and processes, explains properties and their origins | Develops understanding of the role of materials and processes in design, and skill in selecting them | Assists advanced teaching, design projects, and research |
| Content | 69 materials and 77 processes with limited datasets | 100 materials and 109 processes with increased information | >3900 materials and >200 processes (the full professional
database) NEW in 2013: 101 new lightweighting alloys; extended coverage of metal designations; cost models added to continuous progresses; 'condition' attribute describing heat treatment (below) |
Sample database content:
- Click here to see all 69 materials and 77 processes accessible at Level 1
- A typical material (aluminum) at each level: Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3
- A typical process (die casting) at each level: Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3
Science notes
The database also holds Science Notes—textbook-style explanations of the science that underlies the properties stored in the database. Clicking on any property name while exploring the database brings up the relevant science note. This allows students to 'drill down' from exercises based on the property data to explore fundamental principles.
Every Science Note has a 'Further Reading' section with references to a range of standard materials texts. These identify the chapters within those texts that provide information relevant to the topic. This feature helps teachers and students to tie their use of EduPack into their course.View a typical science note (Young's modulus) »
CES EduPack software displays a level 3 datasheet, together with a science note describing one of the properties
(the new Condition property added in 2013)—click for larger image
Design Notes—at Level 3, the system includes design notes for all attributes. These offer practical design guidance to students involved in project work, helping to reduce common selection mistakes.
New in 2013—user feedback has lead to the inclusion of a new 'condition' property describing heat treatments, complete with design and science note (illustrated above).
Specialist property and process information
The specialist editions of CES EduPack augment the core database with add-on data modules that provide extensive subject-specific data for areas including polymers, aerospace, eco-properties, and architecture. Many of these data modules are used in industry—where this is the case, a link is provided below to further product information in the industrial section of this website. The educational version contains the same data.
More on CES EduPack editions »
Elements database
The CES EduPack Elements database provides the fundamental crystallographic, mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of elements across the Periodic Table. This is particularly helpful for materials science courses, physics courses, or engineering courses with more materials depth.
It contains 127 records for 111 elements (some have two or three allotropic forms requiring separate records). There are 56 fields listing position in the Periodic Table, crystallographic, structural, mechanical, thermal, electrical and magnetic properties, diffusion data and surface energies. The image (click for a larger version) shows one way in which this data can be used. A property—here, density at NTP—is plotted against atomic number, illustrating the periodic fluctuations across each row of the Periodic Table. Many other fundamental relationships can be explored in this way.
Links to further in-depth information
Records within the CES EduPack Materials and Processes Database contain references and direct links to further information sources. These includes links to the MatData resource, which enables searching of high quality, authoritative information sources from ASM International, The Welding Institute, the UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and the National Institute of Materials (NIMS) in Japan. Such connections support the use of EduPack in advanced teaching and research—for example, you can use EduPack's selection tools to identify candidate materials for a design application and then, if your institution has the appropriate licenses from ASM International, link directly to ASM Handbook information that provides a detailed profile of those materials.
ASM International and Granta are close partners—ASM is a Granta shareholder—and you can purchase access to ASM online resources through Granta.
License options
CES EduPack licenses have been structured in response to feedback from the academic community. Contact us to discuss which option best suits your course.
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