Briefing Document

Briefing Document:
GRANTA Materials Data for Simulation

Abstract—Finding the right materials property data for simulation can be time-consuming and costly. GRANTA
Materials Data for Simulation dataset is a new license option available with ANSYS Mechanical® and ANSYS
Electronics Desktop® that provides broad coverage of materials types and key property data that is useful for
structural and electromagnetic analysis. Get instant access to the materials data you need and apply it easily to your
ANSYS simulations. In this briefing document you will find:

- An article from ANSYS Advantage Magazine, providing an overview of the dataset and other options to get
materials data for simulation
- An FAQ explaining GRANTA Materials Data for Simulation
- A list of the materials types covered in the dataset
- An example record

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

M A T ERIA L S
Magazine

Take Simulation
Accurate
to the Next
Level with
Materials Data
Finding the right materials property data for simulation can be time-consuming
and costly. Accurate simulations require accurate property data. Engineers need
a reliable data source and to avoid introducing errors as data is transformed and
input. These challenges are addressed with a new materials data set, embedded
within ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS Electronics Desktop, providing access to
richer data and tools to connect managed corporate material intelligence.

By Beth Harlen, Technical Marketing Communications Specialist

S
imulation can do incredible things in the VALIDATED MATERIALS DATA AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
world of product development. Simulation Materials Data for Simulation is a dataset of over 700
models can refine and validate products in materials — including metals, plastics, polymers,
development, ensuring that they are optimized composites, magnetic materials, ceramics and more —
for manufacturability, durability, sustainability and other with properties specifically chosen to support ANSYS
factors that affect the product life cycle. Assuming, that simulations. It supports multiphysics workflows
is, analysts have access to accurate materials inputs, and by making the same, consistent data available
can be assured of their pedigree — for example, through through ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS Electronics
traceability back to the source test data. Desktop, so engineers analyzing both structural and
Without validated and consistent materials data, electromagnetics issues can benefit from consistent,
simulation is hindered by design restrictions, errors, validated materials.
delays and costs. Through the acquisition by ANSYS The Materials Data for Simulation dataset provides
of Granta Design, a Cambridge University spinoff that the material property data needed for structural
provides materials information and related software, and electromagnetic analysis. Room-temperature
new opportunities exist for improving the accuracy of
engineering simulations and analyses.
Different companies need different solutions to the
problem of efficiently finding materials data. A starting
point is to have a good set of reliable, easily accessed
data that is valid for many simulations. “ANSYS GRANTA
Materials Data for Simulation puts validated materials
input data right at users’ fingertips within their ANSYS
simulation tools,” says Stephen Warde, who heads the
product management and marketing team at ANSYS
Granta. “Taking this one step further — which is especially
relevant for larger enterprises — ANSYS GRANTA MI helps
companies ensure they are making best use of proprietary,
A dataset of over 700 materials — including metals, plastics,
in-house materials data along with more in-depth polymers, composites, magnetic materials, ceramics and
reference information.” more — is available through ANSYS Mechanical.

This is an advanced copy of an article slated to appear in ANSYS ADVANTAGE.

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

Magazine

< Access consistent, validated materials

data within the ANSYS Electronics
Desktop user environment.

wider reference data sources are

available to supplement the generic
data available in GRANTA Materials Data
for Simulation? The ANSYS GRANTA
Selector software provides access to the
complete Granta library of reference
data, including rich sources of grade-
specific data for metals and polymers.
The software provides an array of tools
to analyze this data and export it for use
in simulation.
Secondly, and more strategically, how
can organizations ensure best use of their
own materials data – particularly where
they have in-house expertise focused
on analyzing test data to generate the
materials models needed for simulation?
Here the ANSYS GRANTA MI software can
help, Warde explains.
“GRANTA MI is a dedicated
materials properties of the following types are materials information management system,” he
available for all 700+ materials: says. “It enables organizations to manage corporate
• Linear, isotropic elastic (Young’s modulus and materials data alongside the Granta library, creating
Poisson’s ratio) a single source for materials data. Capture all of your
• Thermomechanical (thermal expansion coefficient) test data, analyze that data to generate inputs for
• Thermal (thermal conductivity and specific heat simulation, and make that input data available via an
capacity) app within ANSYS Workbench, while ensuring all of
Where relevant, users will also find electrical and this information remains linked for full traceability.”
magnetic properties for many materials, e.g., electri- ANSYS GRANTA MI provides an enterprise-level
cal conductivity, dielectric constant, dissipation factor, solution to the wider “material intelligence” challenge.
magnetic coercivity and permeability, core loss, and
B-H curves. MATERIAL IMPORTANCE
The data are collated and maintained by ANSYS Materials data is critical to the success of simulation.
and are based on proven sources, including the Granta However, users must make a point to ensure that data
Material Universe database and the JAHM simulation data is validated, consistent and fully traceable. The process
set from JAHM Software, Inc. must begin with the right materials information.
“Every datasheet in the GRANTA Materials Data for “If materials input data are not reliable or simply are
Simulation dataset represents a generic materials type, not available, simulations will never deliver on their
rather than a specific product from a materials producer,” true value,” says Warde.
Warde says. “This means that each record furnishes Through ANSYS GRANTA Materials Data for
representative values for the properties offered by the Simulation, users can access more than 700 material
available grades of the material. The goal is to support records directly within ANSYS products, saving costs,
the early phases of design and to provide a wide-ranging minimizing risk and improving their time to market.
reference source that supports simulation to obtain That value can be built on with a richer source
reliable results quickly.” of validated reference data via GRANTA Selector.
Ultimately, GRANTA MI materials information
LEVERAGE CORPORATE MATERIALS DATA management system enables the full life cycle
Completing the journey toward best practice requires of simulation-related data to be consistently and
organizations to think about two factors. First, what securely managed.

This is an advanced copy of an article slated to appear in ANSYS ADVANTAGE.

3
 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

What is it?
A new dataset of materials property data providing broad coverage of materials types and key property data that is useful for
structural and electromagnetic analysis. This version is available embedded within ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS Electronics
Desktop (where the data has been optimized for use with ANSYS Maxwell®).
What are the objectives?
To provide users of ANSYS software with instant access to ready-to-use materials data within their ANSYS simulation tools.
To provide broad coverage of engineering materials in a single resource, with enough resolution to deliver useful data, while
grouping similar material grades together for efficiency and speed when searching and using the data.
What is the nature of the data — will I find specific data on material grades in the database?
In order to meet these objectives, the records in the dataset are for “generic” materials. They describe a general type of
material, providing “averaged” values of properties for material grades of that type. You will not find data for a specific grade.
However, because the data has been carefully chosen to be representative, for most engineering materials you should find a
record that is close to your grades of interest, with data that is sufficiently accurate for most simulation use cases.
What types of material are in it?
The listing below shows the main classes of material covered. For most of these classes, you will find data for multiple generic
material types within that class. For example, there are over 60 aluminum alloys. Coverage of metals (over 350 records) and
polymers (over 150 records) is particularly strong.
What properties are covered?
For structural analysis in ANSYS Mechanical
Room temperature models for all materials:
• Linear, isotropic elastic (Young’s modulus & Poisson’s ratio)
• Strength (tensile yield strength and tensile ultimate strength)
• Thermo-mechanical (thermal expansion coefficient)
• Thermal (thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity)
• Electrical (electrical resistivity)

Plasticity and fatigue models for metals:

• Bilinear isotropic hardening (tensile yield strength and tangent modulus)
• Life (S-N curve)
Multilinear plasticity for some metals:
• Multilinear isotropic hardening (stress-strain curve)
Temperature-dependent models for some materials:

• Including thermo-mechanical (thermal expansion coefficient)

Demonstration advanced properties for some plastics:

• Hyperelasticity (Mooney-Rivlin 2 parameter)

For low frequency electromagnetic field simulation in ANSYS Maxwell

Physical properties where relevant:
• Linear, Isotropic Elastic (Young’s modulus & Poisson’s ratio)
• Thermo-mechanical (thermal expansion coefficient)
• Thermal (thermal conductivity & specific heat capacity)

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

Electrical models for many materials:

• Conductivity, including some temperature-dependant curves
• Dielectric constant
• Dissipation factor
Magnetic models for many materials:
• Coercivity
• Core loss
• Permeability
• B-H curves

What additional producers’ data are available with ANSYS Maxwell?

Users of ANSYS Maxwell will find an extra 500+ records for producer-specific grades of magnetic materials, enabling more exact
analysis for key classes of electromechanical simulation. These include:
• B-H curves for all materials
• Core loss for many materials

Can I rely on the data? Where does it come from?

All of the data is compiled, checked and maintained by the expert ANSYS Granta Data Products team in Cambridge, UK. Founded
by a leading figure in materials engineering in academia, Professor Mike Ashby, this spin-out team from Cambridge University
is dedicated to ensuring useful, accurate materials data for ANSYS Granta customers. Given the averaged nature of generic
materials data described above, you will not find references for a specific producers’ datasheet or standard in the records. But
the main sources for the data are:
• The Granta MaterialUniverse™ dataset, compiled initially at Cambridge University, and then at Granta Design (now ANSYS
Granta), which draws from sources including supplier datasheets, handbook data, standards and specifications, and
literature reviews
• The JAHM Curve Data from JAHM Software Inc., a widely respected source of property data for use in simulation
• The MagWeb database of magnetic materials (used in the additional producers’ data available with ANSYS Maxwell)

Can I get further (grade-specific) materials data from ANSYS Granta?

Yes. The ANSYS GRANTA Selector™ software provides access to the complete Granta library of reference data, including rich
sources of grade-specific data for metals and polymers. The software provides an array of tools to analyze this data and export
it for use in simulation. ANSYS GRANTA MI™ also provides access to this data within a system designed to manage all of your
corporate materials information.

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

List of materials types covered

Metals Polymers

Solders Thermoplastics, including:

Steels (high, medium, low alloy) Engineering plastics
Low carbon steels Polyethylenes, PP
Medium and high carbon steels ABS, PS
Cast irons PVC
Coated steels PET, PBT
Nickel alloys PMMA/acrylic
Iron alloys POM/acetyl
Microalloy and high strength steels PC
Stainless steels (austenitic, ferritic, Polyamides/nylons
martensitic, and precipitation hardened) PTFE
Tool steels Advanced engineering plastics
Aluminum alloys PEEK
Beryllium alloys PEI, PAI, PI
Chromium alloys PVDF
Cobalt alloys PSU, PESU, PPSU
Copper alloys PPS
Lead alloys LCP
Magnesium alloys Bio-based plastics
Tin alloys Thermosets, including:
Titanium alloys Epoxy resins
Zinc alloys Phenolics
Precious metal alloys Polyesters
Refractory alloys Elastomers/rubbers, including:
Other metals Thermoplastic elastomers
Thermoset elastomers

Ceramics Composites
Technical ceramics Metal matrix composites
Non-technical ceramics Ceramic matrix composites
Semiconductors PCB laminates

Foams Glasses
Polymer foams, flexible
Polymer foams, rigid Technical glasses

Magnetic Materials Woods

Hard magnets
Engineered woods
Soft magnets

Fluids Honeycomb
Gases (air, nitrogen…) Expanded honeycomb
Liquids (refrigerant, water…) Extruded honeycomb

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

An example record
The following record is for high-strength low alloy steel YS355, one of around 30 metals from the low alloy steel type in the list
above.

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 FAQ: GRANTA™ Materials Data for Simulation

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