Granta Design has announced its new GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway, enabling a new generation of materials-related software applications through the integration of materials information technology with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE). The first implementations are being demonstrated at this week's SIMULIA Customer Conference in Providence, RI, and at the PTC/User World Event in Orlando, FL, from June 6-9.
Many critical decisions in engineering enterprises require the use of data and information about materials and their properties. GRANTA MI is the leading system for managing and applying corporate materials information including: results and analysis from the company's materials testing, research, and previous project experience; materials property reference data; company-approved property data for use in design; economic and environmental data on materials; the company's lists of preferred materials and suppliers; and information on the restricted substance status of materials.
With MI:Materials Gateway, engineers and designers can now access and work with this valuable information alongside geometry and simulation data from their engineering software, and apply the combined data in new ways - all within their routine workflow. Initial implementations are for the Pro/ENGINEER CAD system from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and the Abaqus/CAE software from the SIMULIA brand of Dassault Systèmes. Now, via a few mouse-clicks within the CAD or CAE user interface, users of these systems can connect securely across their corporate network to their corporate materials database, find the right materials data, and apply it to their CAD or CAE model. Other implementations will follow as required by Granta customers. These integrated solutions enable:
- Secure, controlled access to approved, accurate, up-to-date corporate materials data on the engineering desktop, eliminating errors and wasted time in finding and transferring materials property data
- The ability to embed entirely new applications within the host CAD or CAE system - for example, to report on the restricted substance status of a design or to guide materials selection
- Easy access to Granta's comprehensive library of materials reference data for metals, plastics, and composites from within CAD or CAE software
"This new generation of integration technology is a major step forward in providing materials data and related software applications to the design and analysis communities in engineering enterprises," comments Dr David Cebon, Managing Director at Granta Design. "We have delivered quick, error-free access to approved corporate materials data from within two leading engineering software systems, and the ability to embed valuable new tools for applications like materials selection and eco-design. Further, the flexible architecture and cross-platform capability of GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway will allow us to quickly replicate this capability for other engineering software."