The user can select an element, right-click on an element to list all materials containing that element (first image below), or change tabs to select a metal alloy (2nd image below), ceramic, glass or other unclassified material. The materials list that appears upon right-clicking on nickel is shown below. The "Fe & Ni Alloys" tab is also shown below, the other tabs have a similar look. When you highlight a material it's composition and available properties are displayed at the bottom of the window.
The "Materials->List materials by UNS number" menu item is used to list the materials in the database by their UNS number, w.Nr. or EN/DIN (if they have one). This makes finding a material easier than searching the regular lists. The results for UNS Nxxxxx are shown below.
Materials can also be searched for based on their display name, UNS, Wk., EN/DIN, JIS numbers or by composition, use the binocular icon button with the "T" for a text search or with the "C" for a composition search. The text search is similar to the "Quick search" on the main window but with a few search options.
Once you find your material you double-click it to open the property window.
The "Options->Units" menu item (or the scale icon button) is used to change the units that the properties are written in. The user can select the units on each property individually (Individual units) or as a set of self-consistent units (Consistent units). The selections are shown below.
The "Options->Output..." menu item is used to change miscellaneous program options. The selections are shown below.
A material is selected by double clicking on it. In this example Ti - 15 V - 3 Cr - 3 Al - 3 Sn was selected. The available properties for Ti - 15 V - 3 Cr - 3 Al - 3 Sn are shown. Different properties are available for the different materials.
The tensile strength data for Ti - 15 V - 3 Cr - 3 Al - 3 Sn is requested as being output as a C/C++ subroutine. This routine can be copied and pasted into a C/C++ program. The data may be copied by using the "Copy all" menu item or by selecting it with the cursor and using the standard Windows Ctrl+c short cut. The data (in this example a subroutine) can also be written to a text file by clicking the "Write a text file" check box. Note that full references are given for all of the data in the program.
Databases can also be written for direct import to ANSYS, SOLIDWORKS and ABAQUS/CAE. See the pdf files included in the zip file for step-by-step instructions.
If the output format is selected to be as data the following screen will appear. Here the user can specify the data separator to be used and the order that the data will appear, i.e., temperature or data first. Users of a non-US version of Windows also have the option of using either a "." or the local symbol (usually a ",") for the decimal separator. This option is not shown in this image.
The data can also be plotted for visual inspection. The plot can be displayed in black and white (under the menu item "options") for copying and pasting directly into reports. You can click on the plot line and the values of the clicked point will be displayed in the menu bar of the plot. You can click on other points or use the mouse wheel to move along the curve. There are several general plot options and axis options available via the menu.
The user can also perform two types of basic data searches with the "Values->Search/Report" menu item. In "Report" mode the user selects a class of material (Ni based alloys for example), specifies the temperature and the properties and the program will report the values at that temperature for all of the materials available. In "Search" mode the user can specify a minimum and maximum value for the property or properties. The image below shows the results of a "Report".
The user can also add their own data to the database. The window for adding user materials is shown below. See the pdf file included in the zip file for step-by-step instructions.
The quickest way to find a material is to use the "Quick search" box in the top right corner of the main window. All searches are case-insensitive, and spaces or special characters, such as dashes, are ignored. The image below shows the results when "304" in entered into the search box.
The search results are as follows. The detailed composition is shown for each material. Once you select a material the properties available are shown at the bottom of the window.
Below is a user material with some data entered.
The composition search is shown below, here we picked iron based alloys and specified the composition range of Cr, Ni and Cr. Pick the "alloy additions" to search for by clicking the buttons.
If you are looking for the fatigue (S-N) curve for an iron alloy (for example), you can right click in the list of iron alloys and then select "Fatigue S-N curve" to see a list of materials with this data for this property. Then select a material from the pop-up list to go to that material.
