Granta Material News—May 2012

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

1. Materials selection for aerospace systems

A recent NASA Technical Memorandum studies systematic materials selection for aerospace systems. Taking the examples of engine blades and pressure vessels, it demonstrates a systematic, design-oriented, five-step approach to materials selection. The pivotal stage is the definition of performance indices, allowing the use of powerful graphical selection charts to make trade-offs between conflicting objectives. These graphs of material property space also reveal 'holes' in the property combinations available with conventional materials. These can be addressed through engineered/hybrid materials, enabling innovation and increases in performance as compared to monolithic materials.

'Materials Selection for Aerospace Systems', by Steven Arnold, of the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and David Cebon and Mike Ashby, of Cambridge University and Granta Design, is now available on the NASA Technical Reports Server.

2. Materials data for Siemens PLM customers

Siemens PLM integrations begin with NX

Access to managed materials data from within engineers' daily-use CAD and other PLM tools is a high priority for engineering organizations—providing rapid access to approved information, without the need to use a separate software package. In response to customer requirements, Granta is working with Siemens PLM to provide access to the GRANTA MI materials information management system from directly within Siemens software. The first result is an integration with NX, the computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering analysis (CAD/CAM/CAE) package (see more below). If you are interested in accessing approved corporate materials data from your Siemens PLM software, contact us or visit our booth (number 28) at the upcoming Siemens PLM Connection event in Las Vegas (May 7-10).

GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway is the technology that helps engineers and designers to access accurate, up-to-date, approved materials information within their routine workflows. This technology can now be applied within the NX software, enabling a user to open an MI:Materials Gateway window within NX, view a corporate materials database, choose materials, and assign those materials to parts, quickly, easily, with full traceability, and with no risk of error due to data transfer. Similar support already exists for Pro/ENGINEER (see us at the upcoming PlanetPTC in Florida), Abaqus/CAE, and Autodesk Inventor.

3. Advanced materials, composites, & lightweighting

Recent years have seen many innovations in advanced materials, composites, and lightweight alloys, enabling bigger, lighter, and stronger structures.

These benefits are the result of increasingly complex materials. When Granta visited the recent JEC Composites Show in Paris, a key theme emerging from our discussions was that materials advances require a more sophisticated approach to the associated property and processing information. Engineers and designers wanted to capture and re-use composite data from testing, QA, research, analysis, and design—but often found it hard to keep track of the volume of the data and the important inter-relationships between them. Materials producers had an additional interest in tools to present the benefits of novel materials options and structures.

This month, Granta will be at the SAMPE exhibition in Baltimore, MD. We look forward to hearing more about the needs of those working with advanced materials and composites. We will be demonstrating our latest tools in this area. Why not email us to arrange a meeting, or find us on booth 1355. This month's tips also feature some of these tools: particularly Tip 1, which uses data from Firehole Composites.

4. NIMS creep & fatigue data module

Japanese seminar launches new data module (June 7)

The first demonstration of searchable, interactive access to NIMS metals property data using GRANTA MI will take place at an upcoming seminar alongside this year's NIMS Conference (Tsukuba, Japan, June 7). This world-leading data-set results from years of continuous testing of metals including carbon steels, low alloy steels, high chromium steels, and austenitic stainless steels, as well as iron-based, nickel-based, and cobalt-based alloys. NIMS is Japan's National Institute for Materials Science.

The data, of critical importance in materials selection and longevity assessments for applications such as pipework and vessels at power stations and petrochemical plants, has previously only been generally available as published graphs and figures. The new GRANTA MI data module will provide users with a means of accessing and using the underlying raw numerical data for the first time. Convenient web browser-based access will also make it easy for users to search, plot, and export data for use in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE).

Further details of this new data module, including descriptions of the creep and fatigue test results which it contains, are now available on the Granta website. Why not help to guide Granta's implementation of this data by letting us know how it can best meet your needs?

5. Industry trends

Materials Genome Initiative

It's always good to hear about major initiatives that affect the materials community. Granta recently coordinated a Materials Education Symposium at which Dr Cyrus Wadia from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy spoke on The Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness. This US Government plan aims to double the speed at which we discover, develop, and manufacture new materials. While the Symposium took an academic perspective (equipping the next-generation workforce is one focus of the project), the wider Initiative brings together industry, government, and academia and will consider computational tools, software, new methods for material characterization, and the development of open standards and databases. The materials information community will no doubt be interested to get informed and involved.

Materials data management for wind power, automotive, and more

Granta's work across the manufacturing industries allows us to track trends in materials data management. Five years ago, the great majority of companies with significant plans for enterprise materials data management were in aerospace and defense. They need detailed understanding of alloys, composites, ceramics, and plastics and to ensure traceability from testing-lab through to analysis, QA, and design data. Similar requirements underlie growing use of the technology in wind power organizations. And a desire to make better use of managed corporate materials data to address cost, regulation, and materials strategy is driving more involvement from higher-volume manufacturing industries. Key examples are the automotive industry and manufacturers of capital equipment such as air conditioning or industrial machinery. One indicator of these developments is the list of organizations implementing the GRANTA MI system—additions in the past month include Jaguar Land Rover, Carrier, and Donaldson.

6. StahlDat SX Pro helps predict properties & behavior

'Atlas of Precipitates in Steels' and flow curve modeling enhance interactive online resource

The StahlDat SX website provides engineers and materials scientists with simple access to the complete Stahl-Eisen-Liste (Register of European Steels), associated specifications, and properties. It was launched earlier this year, and manufacturing companies and research institutes are already benefiting from convenient online access to the wealth of steel information compiled by Stahlinstitut VDEh (the German Steel Institute).

The Stahlinstitut, Granta, and Metatech GmbH are now working with the University of Freiberg to provide an extension to the current Stahldat Pro Online version to use Hensel-Spittel mathematical models of parametric flow curves for more than 100 steel grades at different microstructures.  From June 30, users will be able to take advantage of the graphical-modeling capabilities to generate any desired flow-curve for specific parameters, compare performance, and export to FEA. Ongoing developments also include the addition of the complete 600-page reference volume, the 'Atlas of Precipitates in Steels', which helps metallurgists predict behaviors relating to precipitates.

“StahlDat SX Standard” is currently available for a free 14-day trial, more details on the website:

7. MDMC members on materials information management

'How aerospace leaders manage & use materials information', GlobalSpec Webinar, May 9

Speakers from Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, and NASA will join Granta to discuss the effective management and use of critical materials data. As members of the Material Data Management Consortium (MDMC), they are all part of an aerospace industry collaboration that guides the development of new technologies and strategies for materials data management. Attendees at the seminar will hear how a systematic approach to materials information enables the creation of fully-traceable design-allowable data. They will also discover how leading aerospace organizations are reducing lost data and duplicated tests, improving compliance with national and international regulations (for example, ITAR and restricted substances), and avoiding risk due to out-dated or inconsistent information.

The next MDMC meeting will be hosted by Rolls-Royce (Indianapolis, IN), Jul 31-Aug 2, 2012

8. First German-Language User Group Meeting

Last month saw the first German-Language User Group Meeting, where users of the GRANTA MI materials information management system gathered to share their experiences, see the latest software demonstrations, and give their feedback to Granta. The majority of German user organizations were represented, and the meeting included presentations from KSPG AG, TRW Automotive, RUAG Space, Sulzer Innotec, Thyssen Krupp Steels, as well as Granta. There was also a chance to pick up new tips—one of which is included in this edition of Material News (Tip 3: GRANTA MI:Admin—creating new layouts using Excel). The meeting was characterized by a willingness to share ideas and experiences: attendees say they look forward to future events of this kind.

9. EMIT discuss environmental compliance challenges

Shared challenges, integration, and early-warning on critical materials

Engineers and materials specialists met at Cambridge University for the 8th Environmental Materials Information Technology (EMIT) Consortium this Spring. The Consortium meeting was preceded by an open seminar, where managers in materials engineering, product development, and environmental compliance were able to meet and discuss ideas with members of the Consortium. Speakers from Rolls-Royce and Honeywell joined Granta in discussing the latest developments in best practice materials information technology, as well as the challenges they face in light of increasing environmental legislation.

Key themes included linking materials and process information to restricted substance legislation, making this available to designers and engineers in their normal workflows (e.g., via CAD integration), and new approaches to give early warning of the effects of new legislation.

10. Granta joins 7th framework collaboration project

G.EN.ESI project develops tools supporting the design of sustainable household appliances

Granta takes part in a number of collaborative projects across all areas of materials science and engineering, including design for the environment, nanotechnology, and composite modeling. These projects bring together government bodies, industry, and academia. The latest, launched in February, has funding from the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme to develop new tools that support the development of sustainable household appliances.

The project partners are Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), FABER s.p.a., Sibuet Environnement, Bonfiglioli Vectron Gmbh, ENEA, University of Bath, Grenoble Institute of Technology, and Granta. It aims to develop an eco-design methodology and a software design tool to help product designers make ecological design choices, without losing sight of cost and typical practicalities of industry. These tools, which will be accessible to designers from within their PLM or CAD environments, will inform on material properties, through-life costs, and environmental impacts.

11. Medical applications

'The Business Case for Materials Information Management in Medical Device Design'

Materials information, its management, and its use, can have a profound impact on medical device organizations. Granta's new white paper explains why, examining the potential benefits of best practice. These include 'less risk of product recalls, faster time-to-market, greater R&D productivity, and improved regulatory submissions'. The return on investment is clear: estimates for a typical device company of $1bn revenues suggest potential gains could exceed $500,000 in engineering productivity alone. You can download your copy of this short booklet from our website, at no cost:

Request your copy here »

Showcasing the Medical Materials Database at MD&M East (May 22-24)

Granta will be at MD&M East in Philadelphia later this month, demonstrating data and software tools that enable medical device manufacturers to manage and apply their proprietary data as well as to access the latest information on approved medical devices and associated materials. The new release of the Medical Materials Database, an online resource developed in collaboration with ASM International, will be on show. It has an enhanced range of metals and bioresorbable materials and links to updated FDA Guidance Documentation, helping users to explore the implications of regulatory advice. The data contained in the Medical Materials Database is available for use within the GRANTA MI software as well as by online subscription. Join us on Booth 1701 to find out more.

12. Seminars in Detroit & Madrid

"Materials Information Technology in Industry" (May 18 & 23)

Granta are holding two "Materials Information Technology in Industry" seminars this month. The US event will be held in Plymouth, near Detroit, MI, and the European event in Madrid, Spain.

These seminars are ideal for materials engineers, materials scientists, senior managers with responsibility for product development and engineering, or managers with an interest in how effective use of materials information could help in the supply chain or in environmental product stewardship. Hear case study presentations from leading engineering enterprises, see demonstrations, get your questions answered, and network with other engineers and managers with similar interests. Find out more and register (without cost) on our website.

13. Events—training, conferences, and web seminars

All users of either the GRANTA MI materials information management system or CES Selector are entitled to join (at no additional cost) regular online training sessions. These live web-based software demonstrations illustrate how to get the most from your Granta software and feature a question and answer session with Granta experts. With each series meeting on alternate months, and sessions lasting approximately one hour, we will cover topics such as latest functionality, use of reference data, and optimizing your materials choices.

These online training sessions are usually held on the first Tuesday of alternate months. However, due to public holidays, the sessions will take place on the second Tuesday of the month during May and June.

CES Selector training: May 8—'Selection and Substitution with CES Selector' More details and registration »

Online GRANTA MI training: June 12— GRANTA MI:Eco Audit More details and registration »

Web seminars
Granta web seminars are open to all. These are the events over the next few months: for a complete list, please visit our website.

Conferences and seminars
These are the events over the next few months: for a complete list, and for more details, please visit our website.

14. Tips

In each Granta Material News we link to tips that help users to get more from Granta software.

We hope that the content of this message is of interest and relevant to your position in the engineering or materials producing industries. To request that you receive no further unsolicited e-mail messages from Granta, please send a message to news@grantadesign.com with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.

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