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Home > Education > CES EduPack > Software CES EduPack SoftwareThe CES EduPack software is a Windows PC application that allows teachers and students to interact with the extensive property and processing information available in the CES Edupack database, and to apply that information in materials selection and other projects. Browsing and searching materials infromationWith Browse, students locate the material or process in which they are interested in a simple-to-use tree hierarchy. They click to view the relevant datasheet, which describes the materials and lists its properties. They can then follow hyperlinks to related records (for example, to the processes that can act on a material) or to supporting information (for example, science notes defining a materials attribute). With Search, students find materials and processes by name, trade name, application, or other key words. For instance, typing in ‘ABS’ finds this record. The speed, interactivity, ease-of-use, and clear presentation make the CES EduPack software a very effective learning environment for students of materials and processes. This environment is made even more powerful through integrated materials analysis tools. Materials selectionThe Select tool provides systematic material and process selection. Students can apply a range of numerical and graphical selection criteria to identify which materials meet a specific design objective. The most powerful of these are material property charts (sometimes called Ashby charts). At an introductory level, the visual nature of the charts engages student interest in the relationships between materials families (such as metals, polymers and ceramics) and encourages self-learning through exploration of the materials data.
All of the materials at level 2 in a Materials Property Chart. At a more advanced levels, students learn to select optimal materials or processes by specifying a set of design requirements in the form of constraints and objectives. Constraints screen out unsuitable candidates and may be as simple as ‘the material must be an electrical conductor’ or ‘the material must be able to be injection molded’. The software allows for multiple constraints to be added in different stages. Objectives are then used to rank suitable candidates from best to worst. Typical objectives are ‘minimize cost’ or ‘minimize weight’. Objectives may also be expressed as performance indices – such as 'density per unit modulus' or 'cost per unit volume per unit strength'. Material and process selection projects can be saved and retrieved for later reference or further development.
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