CAMBRIDGE, UK, Oct 20, 2017 – Granta Design today announced the release of CES Selector 2018, the latest version of the industry-leading tool for materials selection and graphical analysis of materials properties. CES Selector has been improved and optimized for industry applications over more than 20 years. This tradition, continued in the 2018 version, is what makes the difference when using it to solve real materials problems. New and updated features include instant charting and filtering based on more complex material properties, easier comparison of plastics, new data to support weldability studies, and data to choose materials that meet medical or safety criteria. Additionally, Altair Partner Alliance members can now get access to CES Selector.
Visualization of the relative performance of materials for an application requiring high specific stiffness and good resistance to knocks and drops
New in CES Selector 2018
Real materials problems can require you to screen materials based on factors like specific strength, stiffness, or ‘is this material warm to touch?’. These can’t be found on any manufacturer’s datasheet, but can be derived from easier-to-find properties. Now you don’t need to spend time setting up those calculations – you will find these and similar properties listed on every datasheet in MaterialUniverse, the material property database that is available with every edition of CES Selector. This enables instant charting and filtering.
Different editions of CES Selector also provide access to more detailed and specialist databases. For example, CAMPUS & M-Base Plastics and Prospector Plastics are great resources for scanning tens of thousands of plastics options. But it can be hard to make effective comparisons when the same property, measured to different standards, is quoted under different property names. Now ASTM and ISO data is combined in one property, making comparison much easier.
Image Courtesy of Granta Design website
A key requirement when selecting metals is often the ability to weld components together. Choosing materials that are not readily weldable can result in low production speeds, high defect rates, and high costs. New ‘weldability’ data makes it simple to consider this important factor when pre-screening alloys.
MaterialUniverse has also been enhanced with data on the properties of bone and tissue, helping design of healthcare products that interact with the body. The ‘agency rating’ data in CAMPUS & M-Base Plastics and Prospector Plastics has been updated to enable better filtering for specific grades known to conform to standards such as USP and food approval.
For simulation, where it is both important to focus modeling work on the most appropriate materials and to have accurate data, the new JAHM Curve Data is available. This provides temperature-dependent property data for more than 2,900 materials, with particular value for studying high-temperature applications and as input for accurate simulation, saving time and cost. Additionally, Altair Partner Alliance members can now use their HyperWorks units to access CES Selector and screen materials, ensuring that detailed simulation work is well-focused.
Further features include: enhanced abilities to add in your own materials, so that you can quickly compare them to those already on the market; faster and more effective performance of ‘what-if’ analysis of the environmental impact of different design scenarios, using updated eco data; and the flagging of REACH restricted substance risks when a material is chosen.
Dr. Charlie Bream, product manager for CES Selector at Granta Design, said “Through listening to the specific problems our customers are facing, we’ve added new features and more data to ensure they have a practical means to solve those challenges. CES Selector 2018 provides the tools needed to handle the subtleties of material selection, reduce time and cost, and gain a competitive edge.”
For more information on CES Selector 2018, join one of our on-going series of web seminars that provide case studies for the use of CES Selector. For details visit here.
About Granta Design
Granta Design is the leading provider of software to manage and apply information about engineering materials. Granta helps hundreds of engineering enterprises to develop corporate ‘material intelligence’ by capturing vital data, analyzing it, and using the resulting knowledge to make smart material decisions. Granta serves sectors as diverse as aerospace, automotive, medical devices, consumer electronics, and industrial equipment. Customers realize multi-million dollar benefits in reduced cost, enhanced product performance, improved quality, and faster design turnaround. Granta also provides resources to support the teaching of materials in science, education, and design courses at over 1,000 universities and colleges worldwide. Granta was founded in 1994 as a spinout from the University of Cambridge.
For more information, visit www.grantadesign.com.