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This case study is designed to engage students by exploring an exciting and contemporary topic; space exploration. It shows how mechanics/strength of materials can be combined with systematic material selection methodology, and demonstrates how you can visualize up to four material indices in parallel. It shows how the Aerospace database in CES EduPack can be used to select a material for the heat shield of a Mars lander entering the Mars atmosphere. Coupling lines are used to find high-performance lightweight material candidates for this demanding application, subject to multiple conflicting constraints. Light metal alloy options are compared with composites and sandwich structures using the software tools.
