MatWeb and SW

[MadMango]

We don't do enough with different materials to justify the meager membership cost. I still thought it was an interesting capability, so I wanted to share with you all.

MatWeb would like to announce that our Premium members can now create and download material property information in the SolidWorks/COSMOSWorks library format.

You are now able to export libraries with just a few clicks for a fast and accurate data transfer. The appropriate property values in the correct units are automatically added to the .sldmat file which can then be downloaded to your own computer and used through your SolidWorks or COSMOSWorks program.

More information on the SolidWorks export can be seen at

http://www.matweb.com/help/SolidWorks_intro.asp.

Here's the kicker...
Another new feature for Premium members is our ability to export baskets of materials in the Excel-compatible IQY file format. For only $49.95/year Premium users get these exports plus all of our Advanced search and compare tools. Up to ten materials at a time may now be compared side-by-side, with graphing!

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Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
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[pdybeck]

I always thought a materials database would make a great idea for a company looking develop a 3rd party add-in product. Too bad I know didley about programming. I think the SolidWorks materials database is deficient in a lot of ways.

 

[pdybeck]

Sorry, I hit the submit button before I completed my thoughts. MadMango - I saw that announcement you are referring to with MatWeb - pretty interesting, but looks very limited. I think you can only store 20 materials in each library, and you can have something like 6 or 7 libraries. With "46,000" materials online at MatWeb, you would think you could have a bit more ability there. Not worth the $49.95 IMOI. As for either enhancing the materials database functions or ideas for a 3rd party product, I think there is much that can be done. I could list some things, but don't have the time right now.

Pete

 

[GBor]

I can't imagine that this won't improve in the near future. Algor FEA software cut a deal that imported many of MatWeb's materials into the software database. I don't know if Algor bought the rights to the MatWeb database or what, but I do know that the Algor database exploded with a lot more that 20 materials per library and 6 or 7 libraries. I would suspect if the deal was good enough that MatWeb will be looking to do this with other software companies (COSMOS for SolidWorks, FEMAP for NENastran, etc.).

Garland E. Borowski
Borowski Engineering & Analytical Services, Inc.

 

[pdybeck]

Thanks for the insight Garland. I remember using ProE/ProMechanica in college for an FEA class and recalled seeing a lot of materials to select from. I don't know if this was standard out of the box functionality, or just something someone in the university took the time to do (add materials to the list). I would hope this would get better in the future.