Publications

Technical papers

These papers take a detailed view of technical issues and their solution.

Meeting the Materials Data Management Needs of Engineering Enterprises

The paper takes a technical perspective of the materials data challenge, examining the practical requirements of those, such as materials engineers, who generate and supply materials data and those, such as stress analysts and design engineers, who are data 'consumers'. The paper analyzes four specific use-case examples: Materials support for engineering design Statistical process control Selecting and substituting materials Meeting regulatory requirements (e.g., REACH)

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Data Management for Composite Materials

Data relating to composites, particularly test and design data, are increasingling important in high performance engineering applications. But this data is difficult to manage and use. The technical paper Data Management for Composites discusses this challenge and how it can be met.

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White papers

These papers take a business/strategic view of materials information issues.

The Business Case for Materials Information Management

This paper draws on Granta's experience of working with the MDMC, a consortium including enterprises such as NASA, Rolls-Royce, GE-Aviation, and Honeywell. We identify the key challenges faced by such organizations in managing and using materials information, and compute the return on investment from emerging materials information technology. This can be substantial, potentially exceeding $10 for every $1 invested.

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Optimizing Materials Strategy - Can you afford not to?

To succeed, manufacturing enterprises need to do much more than simply deliver products that excel at their required function. They must meet wider product design objectives that allow them to address strategic drivers such as cost, environmental legislation, and global manufacturing. Materials decisions are central to these objectives. Sustainable success requires strategies that ensure these decisions are optimized not just for individual designers, but also across the enterprise. This paper outlines an innovative approach that is being applied to address this challenge.

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Materials Information Management for Medical Device Design

Materials technology has a fundamental impact on the viability and performance of medical devices, so the availability and quality of knowledge characterizing relevant materials, the efficiency of access to this information, and the way in which it is used can have profound implications for medical device companies. In this paper we consider best practices for materials information. We identify key requirements, based on interviews with medical device professionals and extensive experience of working with engineering enterprises in this and other industries and describe the Granta Design solutions that meet these requirements.

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Granta in the press

Links are provided where copy is available online or where publishers permit Granta to distribute copies.

Werkstoffauswahl als Mischung aus Systematik und Kreativität
DeviceMed (German language), p.16-17, May 2010

Globales Werkstoffdatenmanagement (PDF version, 1Mb)
VDI-Z Integrierte Produktion (German language), 151, P. 62-63, May, 2009
(With thanks to VDI-Z for permission to distribute this article)

Mehr als Attribute auf der Zeichnung: Werkstoffdaten
CAD CAM (German language), p. 42-45, Nov/Dec 2008

Eco Design: Making it Real
DPA Magazine, p.7. November 2008

Material Database for Medical Devices
Medical Design, p. 26, December 2007

Green Software Tools to Aid Design for Sustainability Policy
European Design Engineer, p. 69-72, October 2007

Mastering the Materials Maze
British Plastics & Rubber, September 2007

Material Selection Made Easy
Plastics & Rubber Weekly, p.6, 28 September 2007

A Strategy for Materials
Appliance Design, p. 77-79, September 2007

Materials Database Helps Stretch R&D Budgets
Medical Design Technology, p. 15-16, May 2007

Materials Information Gets Down to Business
JEC Composites Magazine, no. 32, p.42-44, May 2007

Aerospace Industry Seeks Material Returns
Aerospace Engineering, p. 17-19, April 2007

Managing and Using Materials Data
Advanced Materials & Processes Journal, p. 34-36, March 2007

Engineering Materials Informatics
Cebon D., Ashby M.F.A.
MRS Bulletin, 31, p. 1004-1012, December 2006

Knowledge is Power
Aerospace Testing International, p. 88-90, December 2006

Blame it on the Management (PDF format)
Materials World, p. 26-28, December 2006

The Materials Engineering Challenge
Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol 8, p. 922-923, October 2006

Material Returns
SAE Off-Highway Engineering, p.71-73, October 2006

Software that Really Works (PDF format)
Advanced Materials & Processes Journal, May 2005