A revolutionary improvement in polymer selection is provided by granta design

摘要

For years, computer-based software packages have been helping plastics users throught the minefield of trying to choose the correct grade for an application. They have become valuable tools in the engineer's armory. But according to product manager Andrew Fenn, today's packages have serious limitations. "How many times have you carefully entered your property constraints into a package only to be told no materials meet your requirements? That's not because there aren't any, but because of holes in the measured data." Another problem is that design requirements don't easily translate into material properties, says Fenn. "The best material for a stiff panel is not the same as for a stiff beam, but typical materials databases are not set up to tell you which is best. Nor do they look at the trade-offs between price and performance." Granta Design, whose roots are in the work of Professor Mike Ashby of Cambridge University, teamed up with established experts in the polymer materials selection field, the CAMPUS group, M-Base GmbH, and Rapra Technology Limited, to create the new product. The 'Optimal Polymer Selector' package is comprised of three linked modules: "CES PolymerUniverse,' 'CES CAMPUS,' and 'CES ChemRes." Users follow a unique two-step process.