Granta Material News—January 2010

The quarterly update for anyone who creates, uses, or manages materials information.

Materials data management

The Material Data Management Consortium (MDMC) held its 15th meeting, hosted by Raytheon in Tucson, AZ, during January. The US Army Research Labs were welcomed as the latest participant, swelling the membership to eighteen leading aerospace, defense, and energy enterprises.

The MDMC guides development of the GRANTA MI software system, which helps to capture, control, analyze, and apply critical materials data in the engineering process. A key focus of this meeting was on further extending usability, sharing practical ideas to ease access to key data and tools for the widening user community of engineers and designers. There was also a chance to review developments based on input at previous meetings, now implemented in version 3.1 of GRANTA MI. These include advanced features for handling tabular data—for example, in importing such data, and in display of summary tables that update automatically when records in a materials property database are modified.

Full report from the MDMC Meeting  »

Arrange a demonstration of GRANTA MI for materials data management  »

Composites

It can be hard to manage and use data relating to composites because:

• composite systems can be complex, containing multiple materials and with factors such as processing route and geometry strongly impacting properties
  
  
• storing and using 'pedigree' data accurately and efficiently poses a particular challenge
  
  
• reference data for these materials can be difficult to assemble and use

Granta works with leading engineering organizations to help them manage their composite test data and to provide integrated access to key references such as CMH-17 (formerly Mil-Handbook-17), Agate, NCAMP, and IDES.

Granta will be hosting a web seminar to discuss this work on February 24. Why not join us?

Composites web seminar (Feb 24)—details and registration »

Granta is also finalizing a white paper on composite data management. We're keen to ensure that this paper addresses as many of your questions about this area as possible—why not visit our website and submit your questions? Or simply pre-order your paper.

Composites white paper—submit questions or pre-order »

Materials strategy

Web seminar: "Developing a Materials Strategy", with TRW Automotive (Mar 17)
Designing great products. Controlling costs. Minimizing the risk of materials problems in the supply chain or manufacturing. Manufacturing organizations often find it hard to reconcile these conflicting objectives. This web seminar will show how engineering and product design teams can work more effectively alongside procurement and supply chain teams to meet key business objectives, while maximizing product performance.

You will hear first-hand from TRW Automotive about the materials challenges that face a global manufacturing organization, and how they are putting a structured solution in place to address them. Granta will demonstrate the latest materials strategy software, and you will be able to put your questions directly to the speakers.

Web seminar details and registration »

Join us in Detroit—Materials Strategy Workshop (Apr 14)
The Materials Strategy Consortium is a collaborative project that drives the development of software for systematic materials selection, substitution, and cost optimization. Building on the success of Phase 1, the Consortium is about to begin its second three-year phase. Join us for a free-to-attend Open Workshop on April 14. You can review technology developed in Phase 1 and contribute to the definition of Phase 2. Topics will include:

• Support for engineering objectives, for example, via further enhancement of browser-based tools to guide designers in optimal materials choice, integration of materials selection software with CAD, developments on surface treatments/coatings, and combined materials/process selection
  
  
• How to address key business issues, including cost reduction, rationalization or diversification of suppliers, and materials equivalence in global manufacturing and design
  
  
• Helping product design and development teams to work more effectively with other functions, such as procurement and supply chain management

The Workshop will be held immediately before the Consortium Members' Meeting, creating an opportunity to network with organizations that are applying the CES Selector and GRANTA MI selection software in practice. It runs alongside the SAE World Congress and exhibition, providing you with another reason to visit.

Meeting details and registration »

Eco design and regulations

Web seminar: "Eco Design—New Data and Tools for Lower Energy and CO₂ Footprint" (Feb 11)
A major barrier to effective eco design is the lack of fast, easy-to-use tools to assess environmental impact and test 'what-if' scenarios during the design phase. This web seminar will demonstrate and discuss a new 'Eco Audit Tool' that helps to meet this need. Combined with Granta's well-established materials selection software, this tool provides a quick and interactive means to determine the factors that make the greatest contribution to a product's environmental impact, and to make materials and process choices that minimize this impact.

Web seminar details and registration »

EMIT Seminar—restricted substances focus, Toulouse (Apr 21)
The EMIT Consortium is a collaborative project developing software and information resources that help engineering enterprises to consider environmental objectives and regulations during their design process. A particular focus is restricted substance regulations, such as REACH. This latest EMIT Meeting will be hosted by EADS Astrium in Toulouse in April. Join us for the open seminar session, which will cover the latest developments in software to manage materials data and restricted substance information, and to use this information in design. You will also have the chance to network with EMIT members.

Seminar details and registration »

Seminars & conferences

Seminar: Orange County, CA (Feb 8)—LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER
The latest seminar in our "Managing and Using Materials Information" series will run in Orange County, CA next week—on Feb 8. The seminar is a great opportunity to see the latest technology, hear case study presentations, and discuss your materials information challenges with your peers and with Granta experts.

The event will be held at John Wayne Orange County Airport, which has convenient flights to many locations. The location is also convenient for the MD&M West Conference (below).

Details and registration >>>

MD&M West Conference, Anaheim, CA (Feb 8-11)
If you're visiting the MD&M West medical devices conference in Anaheim, why not take the opportunity to join our nearby seminar on Monday, Feb 8 (details above)? Alternatively, visit Granta on booth 1592 for a demonstration of our medical materials data management software, our medical materials selection tools, and our materials information resources for medical device designers and manufacturers.

More information >>>

Web seminars

Here is the full listing of the web seminars mentioned above. All events are free of charge, but pre-registration is required.

Video tips

You can view three short video clips, each extracted from a recent Granta web seminar, that demonstrate specific capabilities of Granta software.

Data comparison in GRANTA MI —a two-minute video clip showing how data from different datasheets in a materials property database can be quickly compared in tabular and graph format, and exported to Excel.

Setting constraints in CES Selector - a video clip showing how to focus your choice of materials by applying constraints to a database of candidate materials, based on your intended engineering application.

MMPDS data - a four-minute video clip showing how to access data from MMPDS, the authoritative source of aerospace alloy property data, how to view data, link to pedigree information, and export to Excel.

Get the tips »

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