2. Understanding restricted substance impact on materials and specifications
The latest update of Granta’s Product Risk data tracks 120+ regulations and lists, with updated coverage of TSCA, REACH, GADSL, and Japan’s ISHA. This data is linked to data on thousands of substances, materials, and surface treatments. There are new links in this release to the SAE surface treatment specification Standards available via the online Standards Expert tool from IHS. When combined with in-house data managed in GRANTA MI, the result is a rich information resource for answering queries such as “Which specifications are impacted by these changed regulations?”. The practical application of this data, in particular for understanding restricted substance impact on specifications, was explored in a web seminar this week, with Laura Wilkinson of Rolls-Royce as a guest speaker, and it is available to view on demand.
 Such practical application is the focus of the Environmental Materials Information Technology (EMIT) Consortium, which met at Honeywell Aerospace in Puerto Rico in March. Members reviewed developments in GRANTA MI Version 10 that maximize the use of restricted substance information—for example, searching and displaying data in web apps, Python scripting for data processing, and support for controlled workflows (e.g., to manage supplier declaration processes for the forthcoming IPC-1754 Standard). They also had input to on-going development projects, such as enhanced reporting technology and tools to search and compare complicated data.
3. Materials data in product engineering
 Spring is a busy period for finding out what’s new in the world of product engineering software, with events covering many of the key PLM, CAD, and CAE systems. We’ve been demonstrating GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway Version 5 (see item 1, above), which brings the benefits of extremely slick access to materials data not only to simulation analysts, but also to designers, engineers, and managers using CAD and PLM. Some other highlights from these events:
- At the Siemens PLM Connection conference in Indianapolis, there was a lot of interest in integrating corporate materials information authored in GRANTA MI into Teamcenter® PLM. General Motors presented a case study on how they are doing this.
- At last month’s COE Meeting in San Antonio and this week’s Science in the Age of Experience event in Chicago, we met the user communities for Dassault Systèmes software. We showed materials support for CATIA® and Abaqus/CAE® and discussed how Granta is working closely with Dassault Systèmes to support the emerging 3DEXPERIENCE® platform.
- We look forward to next week’s LiveWorx in Boston (May 22-25), at which we’ll be discussing support for Creo® and Windchill® from PTC—including new sample materials data from Granta available with every copy of Creo 4.0.
4. Brush up on your materials selection with this on-demand webinar
 Leading electrical equipment manufacturer Brush Electrical Machines Ltd shared insights in a recent Granta webinar on how it uses its material intelligence to quickly validate its choice of materials, helping to improve product performance and reduce costs. The webinar is now available to view on demand.
Guest speaker Laurent Cruaux, from Brush, gave practical examples of how they have used CES Selector to supplement their materials expertise. They have confirmed whether they are using the best materials, and focused development effort on the most promising material candidates. He presented a case study in which Brush implemented a material change that achieved a 30% cost and 40% weight reduction, and discussed how intelligent selection of materials helps Brush to evolve and innovate their products.
5. Progress on managing Additive Manufacturing data
The results of the ground-breaking AMAZE project to transform Additive Manufacturing (AM) of metallic components into a mainstream industrial process will be presented at a public forum next month. Granta is one of the 26-strong consortium in the European Union collaborative project producing large, defect-free metallic components up to 2m in size, ideally with zero waste, for use in high-tech sectors such as aerospace, automotive, space, and energy. The AMAZE Project Technology Forum is at the Manufacturing Training Centre, Coventry, UK, on June 7. See agenda and register here (use discount code AMAZECONSORTIUM) >
 Interest in managing AM data continues to grow rapidly, and this was evident at three recent events attended by the Granta team: the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG), in Chicago; Business Convention for Additive Manufacturing, Lyon, France; and RAPID + TCT, Pittsburgh (pictured). You can also meet us at Rapid Tech in Erfurt, Germany, on June 20-22.
Delegates were interested to learn how to: capture AM project data, and build up a full picture for any test type for powders, materials, and parts; analyze this data to understand process parameters and their effect on part performance; control and share AM data; and guide decisions on setting up AM projects.
One recent case study of using Granta technology to manage knowledge relating to AM is CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission).
6. Interest in materials sparks growth in Collaborative R&D
New collaborative projects always provide interesting insights into future applications of materials information technology. Recently-started projects in which Granta is involved cover areas including biomedical, composites, and computational materials science. These include:
- FLEXPOL: developing a pilot line for the production of a cost-effective antimicrobial (AM) adhesive film for its use in hospitals.
- COMPOSELECTOR and FORCE: developing a business decision support system which integrates materials multi-scale modelling, business tools, and databases into a single workflow to support the selection and design of materials. The FORCE project supports simulation of soft materials, and COMPOSELECTOR the simulation of polymer matrix composites (PMCs).
- LIGHT-JOIN: aims to enable replacement of metal vehicle components with composites, specifically focused on developing rapid joining solutions, raising the manufacturing maturity to produce a small-scale demonstrator component, and assessing the potential for scale-up.
You could join our team: To manage the growing interest in these and other projects, we have a vacancy for a Project Manager, Collaborative R&D (ICME)—for details of this post, visit our careers page.
7. Sharing material intelligence at user meetings and seminars worldwide
 Dozens of leading enterprises from around the world shared their knowledge and experience with peers at recent Granta Design User Meetings and Material Intelligence Seminars. Best practice management of information about materials was shared at the D-A-CH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) event in Hamburg in March, followed by the APAC meeting in Tokyo in April, and the French event in Lyon, on May 10-11. In addition, Granta held a Material Intelligence Seminar near Boston, MA, earlier this month.
Attendees enjoyed presentations from companies including Airbus, CEA, Dassault Systèmes, Designworks (a BMW subsidiary), Ethicon Surgical Care, Owens Corning, Rheinmetall Automotive, and Safran Aircraft Engines. The wide range of topics discussed included the impact of materials on simulation; the integration of simulation and design tools; the challenges of managing composite data; and sharing knowledge to foster innovation, with a case study on Additive Manufacturing. The user meetings provided a forum for the growing numbers of GRANTA MI and CES Selector users to find out about development progress, provide feedback, and receive training.
Save the date: The next series of Material Intelligence Seminars and Granta Design User Meetings kicks off with the North European event on November 8-9 in the UK.
8. Industry meets academia at Materials Education Symposia
 More than 100 materials education professionals from around the world gathered in Cambridge in April for the 9th International Materials Education Symposium (IMES) – the largest event to date. This year’s themes included innovation in materials science, meeting industry needs, and preparing students for the real world. There were some great talks with topics including engagement with schools; preparing students for life-long learning; and how industry inspires education. The speakers included Prof Mark Miodownik (University College London), Prof George Smith (Oxford University), and Prof Steffen Ritter (Reutlingen University, Germany).
The Materials Education Symposia, co-ordinated by Granta, are unique in being entirely focused on the teaching of materials across the engineering, science, and design curricula. The next event is the 8th North American Materials Education Symposium, held at MIT, Cambridge, USA, on Aug 24-25. The speakers include Prof James Shackelford (UC Davis), Prof Lorna Gibson (MIT), and Prof Mike Ashby (Cambridge University). The themes are innovation in teaching; engaging student interest; and learning through making.
9. Training and video tips
Upcoming CES Selector and GRANTA MI training
GRANTA MI Training sessions are held on the second Tuesday of the month. CES Selector Training is held on the first Tuesday of alternate months.
The next free, online sessions are:
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Jun 13 |
GRANTA MI: What’s New in MI:Materials Gateway Version 5 |
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Jul 4 |
CES Selector: Overview of how and when to apply different selection methodologies and tools |
Video tip—Modifying CES Selector chart labels
In each Granta Material News we link to information that helps users to get more from Granta software. CES Selector charts are a great way to communicate materials information. The record names for materials can be quite long, so here is a tip on how to customize the chart annotation.
10. Come and meet us at upcoming events
Meet us at these events and conferences, or sign up for our webinars.
May:
June:
August:
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