WorldAutoSteel unveils design tool for material comparison in automotive applications
WorldAutoSteel, along with the Steel Market Development Institute, a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute, unveiled a new tool that enables vehicle designers to quickly and accurately evaluate material selection tradeoffs, including mass, cost and greenhouse gas emissions, for automotive applications.
The Design Advisor software was developed by Dr Don Malen of the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering to assist automotive decision makers in evaluating and selecting the material that best fits the requirements of a given application.
According to SMDI, the material selection for automotive components is complicated by several factors. Since material decisions for components influence the entire vehicle, Design Advisor helps the engineer understand how material decisions affect numerous criteria, including vehicle mass, cost, fuel economy and environmental impact.
Dr Malen said that “Since these criteria are not easily combined as a single objective number, the decision maker must be presented with potential effects on mass, cost and GHG emissions so appropriate tradeoffs can be evaluated and selected. The Design Advisor software provides decision makers with the ability to evaluate various materials at a vehicle system level.”
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology.
(Source - www.steelguru.com)