Granta Design has just launched a second generation of the GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway™ integration technology, which provides quick, traceable access to materials data and applications within CAD, CAE and PLM software.
MI:Materials Gateway is now established as the standard for accessing and applying managed materials data across a broad range of engineering software. Version 2.0 brings enhanced ease-of-use and productivity, with even better insights into the materials assigned to design and simulation models.
Quality materials data is a pre-requisite for accurate design and simulation. Yet, until recently, there was no dedicated solution to ensure access to fully approved and traceable materials data directly from within CAD, CAE, and PLM software. Granta has worked with some of the world’s top engineering enterprises to develop best practice in managing, accessing, and applying materials property information. The resulting GRANTA MI™ software enables these companies to store and use both corporate materials knowledge and an unrivalled catalog of materials reference data on thousands of metals, plastics, ceramics, composites, and natural materials.
The GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway technology integrates GRANTA MI™ with CAD, CAE, and PLM systems, putting authoritative materials information into the hands of engineers and design teams quickly and traceably, and within their routine workflows. A growing range of MI:Materials Gateways includes applications for Abaqus /CAE®, ANSYS®, Autodesk Inventor®, CATIA®, Pro/ENGINEER® and Creo®, NX®, and Teamcenter®. Their impact is revolutionary, providing users with:
- The right materials data, in the right format, with full traceability, when and where it is needed – for the first time ever across a broad range of leading CAD and CAE systems.
- Guidance on optimal materials and processing decisions, through dedicated dashboard and reporting tools within CAD and PLM.
- Materials knowledge management for PLM, enabling reports (e.g., “where is this material used?”) to be generated across multiple products.
Version 2.0 builds on user feedback from the first-generation technology to confirm the arrival of MI:Materials Gateway. An enhanced user interface integrates more closely with host systems, making it easier for users to navigate the structure of assemblies and parts read from CAD and PLM systems. There is easier selection of sub-assemblies and parts when assigning materials. New shortcuts make it quicker to apply the right data to those parts: from the right density information for accurate weight roll-ups; to ensuring the correct material name, designation, and surface treatment appear on drawings; to full temperature-dependent stress-strain information for use in non-linear FEA.
GRANTA MI:Materials Gateway also ensures traceability to the company’s “gold source” materials data. At any time, authorized CAD, CAE, or PLM users can access and retrieve additional information on assigned materials for, e.g., non-linear simulation, cost analysis, or environmental impact reporting. Version 2.0 further enhances control over versioning of materials properties – providing notification directly in the design system if assigned materials have since been updated in the master database, and enabling users to update their models.
“We believe that MI:Materials Gateway can revolutionize the accessibility and quality of the materials data used in design and engineering software,” commented Dr. Arthur Fairfull, product director for Materials Strategy and PLM Integration at Granta Design, who also stated that “Users are already benefiting from efficient use of consistent, quality materials data across their organization. Version 2.0 builds on feedback from this user community to deliver a new, slicker user interface, version notification and control of assigned data, with enhanced integration and navigation features.”
These tools for intuitive materials assignment and reporting will be demonstrated at a live web seminar on October 30, alongside a discussion of key issues when deploying materials data for use in design, simulation, or product lifecyle management: www.grantadesign.com/webseminars/2013/gateway2.htm