Unit 7.

Material selection:
Translation, screening, ranking, documentation

Mike Ashby
Department of Engineering,
University of Cambridge

Created with Ansys Granta EduPack 2023R1 ©2023 ANSYS, Inc.

Learning objectives for this lecture unit

Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and
Knowledge and understanding of the design process using Material Indices
Understanding

Skills and Abilities Ability to use Granta EduPack to apply screening and ranking to material properties

Values and Attitudes Appreciation of design-led decision-making using Granta EduPack tools

Resources
 Text: “Materials: engineering, science, processing and design” 4th edition by M.F. Ashby, H.R. Shercliff and D. Cebon, Butterworth
Heinemann, Oxford, 2019, Chapter 3, 5 and 7.
 Text: “Materials Selection in Mechanical Design”, 5th edition by M.F. Ashby, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2016, Chapters 4-5

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Outline of lecture unit 7

 Linking materials to design

 The selection strategy:

Translation – Screening – Ranking - Documentation

 The Ansys Granta EduPack selection toolbox

• Limit stages
• Graph stages
• Tree stages

 Material indices do the job

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The design process

Market need

Material data needs Problem statement

Data for material family

(metals, ceramics, polymers..) Concept

Data for material class

(Steel, Al-alloy, Ni-alloy…..)
Embodiment

Data for single material Detail

(Al-2040, Al-6061, Al-7075…..)

Product specification

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Need – Concept – Embodiment
Need Concepts

Embodiments

Direct pull Levered pull Geared pull Spring-assisted pull

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Embodiment – detail
Embodiment Detail

How are those choices made?

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The selection strategy: materials

Design requirements: Data:

expressed as Material attributes
Constraints and Process attributes
Objectives Documentation

Able to be molded
Comparison engine
Density
Water and UV resistant  Screening Price
Stiff enough  Ranking Modulus
Strong enough Strength
 Documentation
As cheap as possible Durability
(As light as possible) Process compatibility
More…….
Final selection

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Translation is important
Translation: “express design requirements as constraints and objectives”
Design requirements

Typical Constraints What essential conditions must it meet ?

 Be strong enough
 Conduct electricity
 Tolerate 250˚C
 Be able to be cast

Typical Objectives What measure of performance is to be

maximized or minimized ?
 Mass
 Volume
 Eco-impact
 Cost
Screening: “use constraints to eliminate materials that can’t do the job”

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Creating charts for screening

Plotting and selection tools

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Creating charts for screening

Bar chart

Property
Choose:

X-Axis Y-Axis
List of properties

 Density
 Yield strength
 Young’s modulus
Bubble chart
 etc.

Property 1
Property 2

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Creating advanced charts for screening

Modulus / Density
Bar chart
Choose:

X-Axis Y-Axis

List of properties
Modulus / Density
Advanced
 Density
+ - / ^ ( )
 Yield strength
Bubble chart *

Modulus / Density
 Young’s modulus
 etc. List of properties
 Density
 Yield strength
 Young’s modulus
 etc
Yield strength / Density

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The chart-management tool bar
Autoscale
Zoom out Add text Chart annotation
tools
Zoom in Add arrow

Cancel selection
Add curves

Box selection Add/manage family envelopes

tool
Results from all enabled stages
Line selection
Hide failed materials
tool

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Screening with a CHART STAGE
Bar chart

Property
Box selection tool

Line/gradient selection tool

Bubble chart
Results Ranking

Property 2
X out of 100 pass Prop 1 Prop 2
1
Material 1 2230 113
Material 2 2100 300
Material 3 1950 5.6
etc...

Property 1

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Screening with a LIMIT STAGE
General properties

Mechanical properties Min. Max.

Young’s modulus 100 GPa

Glasses
Yield strength 50 MPa
Ceramics
Hardness 70 Vickers
Metals Fracture toughness 16 MPa.m 1/2
Foams

Polymers Thermal properties Min. Max.

0.1 1 10 100 Max service temp 200 C

Insulator Thermal conductivity (W/m.K) Conductor
T-conductivity 1 W/m.K
T-expansion 10 10 -6/C
Results Ranking Specific heat J/kg.K
X out of 100 pass 1600
Prop 1 Prop 2

Material 1 2230 113

Electrical properties
Material 2 2100 300
Material 3 1950 5.6
Eco properties
etc...

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Screening with a TREE STAGE
Trees
MaterialUniverse
ProcessUniverse

MaterialUniverse
ProcessUniverse

Ceramics
Joining and glasses
Materials that Shaping-composites
Hybrids: Die casting etc
can be die-cast
Metals
Surfaceand alloys
Treatment
Polymers and elastomers
Results
X out of 100 pass Selected records

Material 1 Shaping – Die casting

Material 2

Material 3
etc...

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Selection on links

Select on The
material database
properties References
data-table

DATA FOR DATA FOR

 Metals & alloys  Joining
Links
 Polymers Material Processes  Shaping
 Ceramics & glasses s data-table
 Surface treatment
 Hybrids data-table

Suppliers
data-table

Select on links

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What is a “material index”?
Component performance is limited by either:
 a single material property e.g. tensile strength, σts The
material index
 a material property group, e.g. modulus / density, E /  for the design
To maximize
performance:
 First apply all
constraints
 Then select
materials with the
biggest or smallest
index

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Simple one-property indices
Design requirement
Constraints
 Transparent - of optical quality
Protective visor  Able to be molded
for motorcyclists
Objective
 As tough as possible –
maximize fracture toughness K1c

The material index: choose material with largest K1c

Alternative objective
 As cheap as possible –
minimize material cost Cm

The material index: choose material with smallest Cm

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Minimum weight design - indices
Tensile ties

Main spar
Compression
- beam
strut

Undercarriage - bending and

E = Young’s modulus
compression
= Density
= Yield strength

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Index for a strong, light tie-rod
Strong tie of length L and minimum mass

Function Tie-rod
F F
Area A L
Constraints  Length L is specified
 Must not fail under load F
m = mass
A = area
Equation for constraint on A: L = length
F/A < y  = density
= yield strength
Objective Minimize mass m:
m = AL

Performance Chose materials

metric with largest

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Index for a stiff, light beam
Stiff beam of length L and minimum mass
Function Beam
F
b Square
b
section,
area
L A = b2
• Length L is specified
Constraints • Must have bending stiffness > S*
δ
m = mass
Equation for constraint on A: A = area
L = length
 = density
S = stiffness (F/δ)
This beam: δ = FL3/CEI
Objective Minimize mass m: C = constant (here, 48)
E = Young’s modulus
m = AL
I = second moment of area
(I = b4/12 = A2/12)

Performance Chose materials

metric with largest

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Ranking, using charts
Light stiff beam: 1000

Ceramics
Index
100 Composites
Increasing M
Rearrange:

Young’s modulus E, (GPa)

E = ρ 2 M2 Woods
10
Take logs:
Log E = 2 log  + 2 log M Metals
1 2
Polymers
Function Index Slope 0.1

Tie 1
Foams Elastomers
Beam 2 0.01
100 1000 10,000 100,000
Panel 3 Density ρ (kg/m ) 3

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Selection using index in a bubble chart

Search
area

Results Ranked
22 pass by Index
Material 1 2230
2 2
Material 2100
Material 3 1950
etc...

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Selection using index directly on chart axis
Index

Results Ranked
22 pass by Index
Material 1 2230
Material 2 2100
Material 3 1950
etc...

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Documentation: the pedigree
Documentation: “now the number of candidates is small, explore their character in
depth”
Handbooks

Specialized Suppliers’
databases data sheets

The Internet

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Summary

 The selection strategy:

Translate - Screen - Rank - Documentation

 EduPack allows Screening using ‘Limit – Chart – Tree stages’ in any number
and sequence

 The progression:
Data Visualization Selection
(Numbers, text) (understanding the data) (using the data)

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Lecture unit series
These PowerPoint lecture units, as well as many other types of resources,
can be found in the Ansys Education Resources webpage.
Finding and Displaying Information Sustainability
Unit 1 The materials of engineering What is a sustainable development? A materials perspective
Unit 2 Material property charts: mapping materials Materials for low carbon power
Unit 3 The Elements database: properties, relationships and resources Special Topics
Material Properties The Built Environment
Unit 4 Manipulating properties: composition, microstructure, Structural sections: shape in action
architecture
Materials in industrial design: Why do consumers buy products?
Unit 5 Designing new materials: filling the materials-property space
The Design database for Products
Unit 6 Materials Science and Engineering
The Battery Designer tool
Selection
Bioengineering and Medical Devices
Unit 7 Material selection: translation, screening, ranking, documentation
Advanced Teaching and Research
Unit 8 Objectives in conflict: trade off methods and penalty functions
Advanced databases
Unit 9 Material and shape: materials for efficient structures
The Aerospace database
Unit 10 Manufacturing processes and cost modeling
The Polymer database
Unit 11 Eco-informed material selection
The Synthesizer tool: hybrids and other models
Unit 12 Eco design and the Eco Audit tool

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© 2023 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2018 Mike Ashby

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Document Information
This lecture unit is part of a set of teaching resources to help introduce students to materials, processes and rational selections.
 
Ansys Education Resources
To access more undergraduate education resources, including lecture presentations with notes, exercises with worked solutions, microprojects, real
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