Materials information when and where you need it
Access and use corporate materials data within your CAD, CAE, PLM and other systems
Deploy accurate, up-to-date, approved materials information to engineers and designers within their routine workflows
Embed new tools (e.g., to search materials data, select materials, or enable eco-design) in your design and engineering software
GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway
GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway integrates materials information technology with other engineering and business systems—computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), or other product lifecycle management (PLM) tools.
The first level of integration between GRANTA MI and CAD or CAE is provided by the browser-based export tools in GRANTA MI:Viewer. Users can browse or search for the materials property data that they need. The system presents the data that they are authorized to see as text, tables, graphs, and more. They can then export this data, automatically configured in the specific format required by their CAD or CAE system, via file transfer or simple cut-and-paste. Systems supported include Abaqus, ANSYS, CATIA, Nastran, Patran, and Pro/ENGINEER.
GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway goes a step further—providing interactive, seamless integration between GRANTA MI and other systems.
How does MI:Materials Gateway work?
Users simply download and install a small program that is launched from supported CAD, CAE, PLM or other software on their computer, and which communicates with the powerful MI:Materials Gateway software on your GRANTA MI server. This enables users to connect securely across your corporate network to your approved corporate materials database. They are able to browse, select from, and apply the data from that database directly within their CAD, CAE, or PLM system.
An example integration—accessing and using materials data stored within
GRANTA MI inside the Pro/ENGINEER CAD system
This means, for example, that a user of a CAD system (above) could select an option in that system's menu to launch an MI:Materials Gateway window (the small window in the picture). This provides tools to view the corporate materials database, guide the selection of materials from it, and assign those materials to parts within the CAD model. The CAD model picks up the relevant properties from the database (for example, to derive mass properties of the assembly) with full "pedigree" information automatically included for each material assigned. It is easy for designers and engineers to find the data that they need, confident that they are using approved, up-to-date data, while minimizing the scope for error during data transfer.
What can you do with MI:Materials Gateway?
- GRANTA MI is a powerful system for capturing, analyzing, and maintaining all of your corporate materials data—for example, from testing, R&D, or previous design experience. MI:Materials Gateway means that this valuable, managed resource can be made available to all of your engineers within their routine workflows, while taking advantage of GRANTA MI features such as access control and version control
- Granta can also provide a comprehensive library of materials property reference data for metals, plastics, ceramics, and composite materials. These data modules can be loaded into your corporate GRANTA MI installation and accessed, via MI:Materials Gateway, from your supported CAE, CAD, PLM or other software
- GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway doesn't just provide access to materials data—it also enables tools to be embedded within your engineering software that can combine and apply data from both systems. An example are restricted substance reporting tools that use materials and restricted substance information from a GRANTA MI installation to report on which materials in your CAD model are at risk from the latest restricted substance regulations. More on restricted substance reporting »
What systems does MI:Materials Gateway support?
Current MI:Materials Gateway implementations support the CAD and CAE systems listed below. We have an active program, in collaboration with our engineering software partners, to develop MI:Materials Gateway integrations for a number of further applications. Contact us to discuss your priorities—if you are interested in accessing GRANTA MI data from within a leading CAD, CAE or other system, it is likely that we will be able to implement an MI:Materials Gateway that meets your needs.
GRANTA MI:Gateway for Pro/ENGINEER—product website »
GRANTA MI:Gateway for Abaqus/CAE—product website »
Eco Materials Adviser within Autodesk Inventor—product website »