On 30 September 2021, Altair announced the Altair Material Data Center (AMDC) consortium, designed to make the cloud-based database AMDC a materials information resource to support product design and manufacturing. Altair is a global technology company providing software and cloud solutions in the areas of simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI).
According to the company, the development of sustainable, efficient, minimum weight designs requires accurate, multi-domain material properties – and the selection of these materials is a vital step in product development. Launched in 2020, the AMDC provides material properties for tasks such as virtual prototyping and simulation. It includes data on a vast array of metals, plastics, and composites for use with computer-aided engineering (CAE) applications. It enables designers, engineers, and scientists to browse, search, and compare materials in a stand-alone application or through the interface of their simulation and optimisation tools.
Consortium members will share real-world experiences and best practices, and work to ensure the AMDC roadmap accurately reflects their needs. In addition to providing strategic guidance, organisations serving on the consortium’s steering committee will benefit from early access to the latest software and innovations from Altair.
“We are delighted to welcome industry leaders such as Nikola Motors and the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to the consortium,” said Stephanie Buckner, senior vice president of customer engagement and corporate development, Altair. “Members will play a central role in driving AMDC, maximising its value to engineers and designers as they pursue new engineering challenges.”
“The foundation of predictable CAE structural simulations lays in the proper definition of standardised building block testing procedures for material characterisation and processing the experimental data into verified and validated CAE material cards,” said Dr. Gerardo Olivares, director and senior research scientist at the Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research. “NIAR’s Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing research group is proud to be a steering committee member of Altair’s Material Data Center consortium,” he added.