JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #105 - June 2016 - 39

Fig. 2: Managing composites data in GRANTA MI

and the strong dependence of their properties on factors such as geometry and processing. Success has required the development of
specific structures to capture this data, and
tools to import and process it.

Managing materials information to
meet the challenge: case studies

Supporting development,
qualification, and simulation
As enterprises push materials to work harder, in harsher environments, they need greater confidence in the statistical pedigree of
this data. They want to support qualification
workflows and protocols, which are often
specific to their industry or company. The
ability to manage the test and analysis data
associated with qualification programmes is
fundamental to qualification - in particular,
the fact that systematic management of this
data ensures traceability; i.e., any item of
design data can be traced back to the data
that underlie it.
Another important element is the ability
to combine managed proprietary data
with reliable reference data. For example,
through a long-standing collaboration
with the US National Center for Advanced

Materials Performance (NCAMP), Granta
provides enterprises with digital access to
comprehensive composites design data, test
results, and reports from this world-leading
composites testing programme. In February 2016, Granta announced the new
Composites QED data module, which adds
thousands of raw data curves in response to
industry demand for more of this reference
information. This eases composites qualification by enabling comparison of in-house
tests with tests for similar, established systems. Users can eliminate invalid test results
or establish equivalency - proving that their
process produces the same properties as a
proven material.
Another example of the importance of materials information in composite development
is provided by the Lightweighting Excellence
Programme (LX). This project was created
to enhance capability in the UK automotive
supply chain to manufacture composite
components in medium to high volumes at
affordable costs. It manages materials knowledge so it can be shared to enable effective
collaboration, supported by decision-making
tools for material and process selection.
Three OEMs are currently working with LX.
For Bentley Motors Ltd., the consortium
aims to produce a lightweight carbon-composite assembly to replace a metal door
structure. The consortium is working to
create a production facility using thermoplastic composite moulding know-how
to manufacture exterior body panels for a
lightweight commercial vehicle for Emerald
Automotive LLC. For Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd., the consortium aims
to replace a metallic floor structure with a
carbon composite that is significantly lighter,
and at a comparable price, while maintaining
high-quality structural performance.
Another multi-partner collaboration, this
time focused on composite simulation, is
UK-Datacomp, with partners including
Axon Automotive and Cytec. It aims to
establish a materials database to facilitate
the use of established virtual prototyping
methodologies for composite product development. The database will also facilitate
validation and quality assurance of composite materials used within the UK supply
chain. Granta provides centralized materials

No105 June 2016 / jec

Feature Simulation

Developing this technology has been a
primary focus over many years for the
Material Data Management Consortium
(MDMC) - a unique collaborative project
coordinated by Cambridge, UK-based Granta Design, with members including Boeing,
Honeywell, NASA, and Rolls-Royce. The
project focuses on developing and applying software to manage mission-critical
materials data in the aerospace, defence, and
energy sectors. Its Composites sub-committee has guided Granta in the development
of database structures suited to the needs of
composites data management (illustrated in
figure 1) and has validated and applied tools
to process and manage this data. These technologies are commercially available through
the GRANTA MI™ software.
The application of this technology has been
discussed at web seminars, for example, by
wind energy company Vestas, who reviewed
its importance in enabling a fast, effective,
iterative design process, balancing cost and
performance as they push materials boundaries [2]. Similarly, Airbus Helicopters have
described its use to manage their materials
data, and the importance of best-practice
composites data management [3].
A new example of materials information
management is provided by RUAG Space,
which supplies products for the space
industry in Europe, with a portfolio of

launcher structures and
separation systems,
satellite structures and
instruments, digital
electronics, and communication equipment.
The company uses a
wide range of materials - metals, plastics,
composites, and adhesives, including special
materials incorporating
high-modulus fibres - to
meet the demands for lightweight, rigid
and thermally-stable satellite structures. It
has used GRANTA MI to create a single,
reliable, company-wide source for all its materials data, capturing inspection data on the
performance of materials from the production phase, along with proprietary data and
external reference data (figure 2).
Key benefits are consistency and speed. The
system ensures that the same design data is
used company-wide, and that this data can
be found easily and quickly. In addition to
capturing data, the company can capture
valuable corporate "knowledge" - for example, experience about how the materials
are applied. Among the next steps will be to
introduce such knowledge tracking, and to
log incoming inspection results on composites and adhesives.

composites magazine 39

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #105 - June 2016