Bild der Nachhaltigkeits-Kampagne. Foto: CADFEM
While the development of products used to focus primarily on performance and durability at the lowest possible price, sustainability is becoming increasingly important today. However, the development of new products taking into account the ecological footprint (design for sustainability) is time-consuming, because many possible materials and processing steps have to be selected. A new optimized simulation software distributed by CADFEM Germany offers important help here and also the possibility of cost savings.
“A key factor for the ecological footprint is the choice of materials,” emphasizes Dr. Matthias Hörmann, member of the CADFEM management board. “In addition to energy and water consumption, development departments must also consider the recyclability of materials, processing methods and logistics, which can become very complex.” The tools of the Ansys Granta Material Intelligence (MI)TM simulation platform provide the necessary reference data. The standard version of the program already contains more than 4,000 materials with their respective physical properties, processing and ecological assessment.
Central material knowledge as the key to success
Extensive filtering options allow alternative materials to be identified when designing products and components, for example in the fields of drive technology or mechanical engineering, which have a similar stiffness to the base material and at the same time perform significantly better in terms of sustainability. In order to ensure the perfect function and high product quality of each material, the models are checked in virtual tests using simulation.
Design for sustainability not only ensures a better eco-balance for products and manufacturing processes. It also helps to comply with increasingly strict legal requirements, increase efficiency in production and use and ultimately reduce costs. “In addition, more sustainable products offer strong advantages in competition and for your own brand image,” emphasizes Hörmann.
Companies and brands are under pressure to act on sustainability
Ansys Granta is more than just a simple material database. Rather, it is a platform that manages a company’s entire material knowledge and provides all the necessary tools. It connects to a company’s existing CAD, CAE or ERP systems and links all existing material data from material testing to purchasing – with the support of CADFEM’s simulation experts if required.
