Ansys Granta Collaborations & Partnerships

Name: Digital Reconfigurable Additive Manufacturing Facilities for Aerospace – DRAMA

Type: Active Collaborative Project funded by InnovateUK & The Aerospace Technology Institute

Competition: ATI Batch 21, Capability Investment Program

Partners: The Manufacturing Technology Centre, Renishaw, Autodesk, ATS, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, NPL, University of Birmingham

DRAMA will establish leading additive manufacturing ‘test bed’ facilities for the aerospace industry and its supply chain at the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (based at the MTC in Coventry) and the Renishaw AM Solution Centre in Stone. The project will showcase the use of digital technologies to drive productivity and reliability in AM, leading to increased adoption of AM technologies by the aerospace sector and, in the long term, other industrial sectors. It will also deliver the world’s first digitally twinned reconfigurable AM facility and establish the UK as a global leader in additive manufacturing technology. The project, part of the ATI program, has received a grant of £11.2 million through the UK’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Granta Design provides the platform for the digital infrastructure of the AM facilities, implementing a robust materials information management system, able to capture the relevant information from the entire AM process chain (data and metadata capture from manufacturing machines & testing, powder qualification and use, inspection, material and process modelling). Granta is developing the digital AM knowledgebase repository and software tools for the facilities’ digital twin model.

Name: FormPlanet

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: Fundació Ctm Centre Tecnològic (CTM), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V. (FRA) , Lulea Tekniska Universitet (Ltu), Universita’ Di Pisa (Unipi), Comtes Fht As (COM), Fundacio Eurecat (EUT), Letomec Srl (Letomec), Granta Design Ltd (Granta), Asociacion Espanola De Normalizacion (UNE) , Lgai Technological Center Sa (Applus), Arcelormittal Maizieres Research Sa (AMMR), Arania Sa (Arania), Estamp, S.A. (Estamp), Arcelik A.S. (Arcelik), Centro Ricerche Fiat Scpa (CRF), Aludium Transformacion De Productos, S.L.U. (Aludium), Automation, Press And Tooling, A.P.& T. (APT), Lamera Ab (Lamera)

FormPlanet addresses processability and part performance in the sheet metal manufacturing sector. The sector faces new challenges related to the manufacture of high-performance parts with new high strength materials. The aim of FormPlanet is to develop and demonstrate an integrated ecosystem offering novel testing methodologies to characterize sheet properties, predict part performance and prevent production loses to the sheet forming industries to tackle the upcoming challenges in formability of processing sensitive materials. New testing methodologies and FE approaches to predict formability and part performance as well as monitoring and inspecting NDT will be developed and adapted to the sector needs. The project is linked to the European Materials Modelling Council (EMMC) and European Materials Characterization Council (EMCC). Granta is responsible for the implementation of the  Materials and Process information management system (Granta MI), including Workflow implementation for standard protocols for multi-scale modelling and characterization and to support business model for continuation of the Open Innovation Test Bed after project, including reference database exploitation and growth.

Name: IDMBAT - An intelligence battery data management program

Type: Active Collaborative Project funded by InnovateUK

Competition: Faraday Battery Challenge Round 3

Partners: ANSYS Granta, Intellegens, University of Birmingham

This project is developing new tools to speed up the manufacturing processes of batteries, using artificial intelligence to reduce fabrication and development costs while improving key battery metrics. Intellegens’ role is to provide their cutting-edge deep learning predictive models (Alchemite™) for process parameter prediction. ANSYS Granta will build and test the data platform and the University of Birmingham will bring battery technical leadership and will host a small-scale manufacturing facility to generate data. The new intelligent data management platform will enable battery technology manufacturers to overcome technical and commercial barriers.

Name: iTRIBOMAT

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Funding: EU H2020 DT-NMBP-07-2018 

Partners: AC2T Research GMBH (Coordinator), ATOS Spain SA, Bundesanstalt Fuer Materialforschung und Pruefung, Fundacion Tekniker, Granta Design Ltd, Lulea Tekniska Universitet, Moventas Wind OY, Toyota Motor Europe NV, Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT OY, Trygonal Iberia SL

i-TRIBOMAT aims to establish the world first open test bed of tribological materials characterization to support industrial innovations among European manufacturing industries and SMEs by upscaling materials to the mechanical components level. i-TRIBOMAT open test bed enables user-driven versatile characterization of materials at reduced costs by also shortening the time-to-market. i-TRIBOMAT will establish an IT-platform for materials and tribological data harmonization, management, analytics, sharing and mining and will supply lab-to-field upscaling tools by combining testing with computation. Services will be validated by three industrially relevant use cases: energy efficiency (transportation), renewable energy (wind turbine) and manufacturing (seals) represented by large-, medium- and small-sized companies. i-TRIBOMAT will be THE European Single Entry Point offering intelligent Tribological Materials Characterization to predict the durability of materials in use or novel for a wide field of industrial applications. Granta’s role is to provide a materials information management system to support the Open Innovation Test Best.

Name: Mat2Bat - A holistic battery design tool: From materials to packs

Type: Active Collaborative Project funded by InnovateUK

Competition: Faraday Battery Challenge Round 2

Partners: Granta (Lead), Imperial College London, Denchi Power

Battery pack designs vary significantly depending on applications and requires careful consideration of the selection of suitable cells as well as materials to make packs such as housings and coolant systems. The increasing diversity of cell chemistries and the already expansive material selection choices for structural components, means that the design space for battery packs is extremely broad. There are several computation tools which aid detailed design of battery packs, however, there are seldom tools which have a holistic view of the battery pack design process from chemistry selection to pack design. The MAT2BAT project will combine Granta's experience of developing material selection design tools with Imperial College London's and Denchi Power's battery knowledge to develop a holistic design tool to explore a growing design space to enable innovative designs. In a time when there is a lack of skilled battery engineers, the MAT2BAT tool will aid in the accelerated development programs of battery packs for both students and non-battery engineers alike to fill the skills gap.

Name: ATEX Encoder

Partners: Innovative Technology and Science Ltd., TWI Ltd., Ansys

Funding: InnovateUK

Vital to any NDT inspection is pinpointing the precise location of the defects found. Advanced inspections, such as phased array or full matrix capture, need the precise location of the sensor as it is moved during the inspection. This is to allow the data collected to be viewed as a map or 3D segment. The odometry of the robot or probe is handled by an encoder. An encoder is a transducer that sense the position or orientation for use as a reference or even as a feedback to control position. If these advanced techniques are to be used in potentially explosive environments, such as the oil and gas industry, then ATEX certification is a prerequisite. The equipment used in these environments must be ATEX certified -- designed and certified to prevent any explosions and not become a potential source of ignition. The goal of the project is to develop an ATEX-certified contactless magnetic encoder. Eliminating the need for a mechanical coupling (via a shaft) further reduces overall package size and will considerably reduce the encoder torque. That means it will be much easier to integrate the new encoder into applications where space is an important factor, it will be appropriate to NDT applications, the potential for accidental damage to the encoder in challenging industrial environments will be significantly reduced.

Ansys is supporting the project with material information for the selection of magnets, casing materials, etc., and simulation expertise to test in-service parameters and to inform physical validation tests for the ATEX Encoder implementation in sensing equipment. 

Name: EV-JOIN

Partners: The Welding Institute (TWI), Ansys

Funding: InnovateUK

Electrification of vehicles is key to achieve global legislative requirements for CO2 emissions reductions. Zero emissions within cities, higher quality and higher performance electrified vehicles (EVs) is also making them more attractive. More than 2 million EVs were sold globally in 2018, 68% were battery electric vehicles (BEV) and 31% were plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), with an annual growth rate of 57%. Pack costs are expected to reduce from €155/kWh today to €90/kWh in 2030, through technological advancements and economies of scale. However, several issues currently limit further exploitation. High-volume EV production is still in its infancy in the UK and globally, and even the leading manufacturers lack the knowledge to design systems that can be readily manufactured by processes suitable for volume production.

These EV systems are assembled, and must finally all be connected together (individual cells, to modules, to battery packs to motors, to complex PEMD systems), with potentially 10,000 -- 100,000+ welds per EV power train required. However, numerous complex issues are associated with the joining processes required to achieve these connections. EV producers, SME through to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) level, struggle to select compatible materials and joining processes, to specify and design the required EV systems and to select suitable manufacturing processes.

The EV-Join project will provide a user friendly software tool based on ANSYS technology and the combined know-how of TWI and ANSYS, that addresses major issues faced by companies developing EV systems. 

Name: Accelerated Metallurgy (an EU FP7 project)

Partners: Airbus Defense and Space, AGH, ARC Centre of Excellence, ArcelorMittal, Avantys, Avio, University of Birmingham, Bruker, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, CCFE, CNRS, Centro Richerche Fiat, DTU, ESA, ESRF, Flamac, Fraunhofer IPM, Granta Design, ILL, Johnson Matthey, Magnesium Elektron, Molycorp Silment, Norsk Titanium, Renishaw, Rolls-Royce, Universite de Rouen, University of Sheffield, Sintef, TLS Technik, Universita Degli Studi di Torino, Universitay of Ulm

Referred to as the 'Human Genome Project of Alloys', Accelerated Metallurgy aimed to provide a rapid and systematic way of producing and testing the properties of previously untried alloy combinations. Combining the latest technologies with advanced computer modelling, the 'virtual alloy library' quickly highlighted the most promising new materials. These were taken on for further laboratory assessment. The accelerated discovery of these alloy formulations will soon be providing industrial solutions with huge benefits for society. Granta built the Virtual Alloy Library, a single shared source of knowledge (based on GRANTA MI) used by all of the partners to capture and consolidate materials knowledge from new alloy specimens and simulated alloy compositions.

Name: Composites Innovation Cluster

Type: Industry Group

Granta participates in the Composites Innovation Cluster, which aims to develop the UK Composites Supply Chain as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI). It brings together academics, suppliers, technology providers and the National Composites Centre, supporting projects such as DATACOMP.

Name: Light-Join

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: Jaguar Land Rover, Far-UK, Stadco, Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK, Scott Bader Company, Autotech Engineering R&D UK, Granta, TWI, University of Warwick - WMG

The automotive industry faces major challenges to meet targets for emissions, efficiency, performance and cost. Lightweight of parts using composites enables all of these to be addressed, except for cost. A key driver of the cost of composites is the limited ability and capacity in the joining technology available. In project Light-Join, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Nissan and their Tier 1 suppliers aim to develop several solutions that will enable cost effective integration of high-performance composite components into volume car production. Light-Join aims to enable replacement of specific metal vehicle components with composites, specifically focused on developing rapid joining solutions, raising the manufacturing maturity to produce a small-scale demonstrator component (MRL5) and assessing the potential for scale-up to MRL9A. This project will develop a solution leading to 30% weight reduction for all-aluminum construction (for JLR) and 60% compared to an all-steel construction (for Nissan). This approach will have industry-wide applicability, allowing a lower risk introduction of lightweight composite components to the mass market. Granta is providing an enterprise-level materials information database to support the selection of joining methods, along with full traceability from initial trials through to material card generation.

Name: UK-DATACOMP

Type: Completed Collaborative Project

Partners: Altair, Axon Automotive, Cytec Industrial Materials, Granta, Imperial College, NCCEF, Sigmatex

OEMs have invested significantly in shortening their product development processes over the last two decades & virtual prototyping through Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has been their key enabler. Confidence in using CAE to develop predominantly metallic structures to achieve target performance is high, achieving significant time reductions & cost savings by removing the heavy reliance on physical prototype testing. As products are increasingly developed using composite materials, significant investment is required in order to provide reliable predictive CAE results to meet the equivalent timing & costs as those required to develop a metallic structure. The vision of UK-DATACOMP was to establish a material database to facilitate the use of established virtual prototyping methodologies for composite product development. The database also facilitated validation & quality assurance of composite materials used within the UK supply chain. Granta provided centralized materials information management for the project, capturing high quality, pedigree assured composites data and enabling use of this data for FEA analysis.

Name: Lightweighting Excellence Programme (LX)

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: Sigmatex, Axillium Research, Caparo Advanced Composites, Cranfield University, Engenuity, Expert Tooling & Automation, Granta Design, Group Rhodes, LMAT, Surface Generation, Tilsatec

The LX consortium will enhance capability within the UK automotive supply chain to manufacture composite components in medium to high volumes, at affordable costs, by connecting the key functions of material supply, design and manufacturing. OEMs are now working on weight reduction to ensure compliance with stricter emissions standards. However, as the amount of technology demanded in today’s passenger vehicles increases, so does the overall weight. Composite materials allow OEMs to counteract this effect through lightweighting and part consolidation, while maintaining structural integrity. Many UK-based automotive OEMs have expressed interest to source a higher percentage of their composite components from within the UK. The LX Programme, funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) programme, addresses these desires by consolidating all elements of the supply chain to produce demonstrator components to showcase UK capability. Three OEMs are working with the partners on the following ‘use cases’: Bentley Motors (door inner structure), Emerald Automotive (exterior body panels), and Nissan (structural component). By the conclusion of the LX Programme in 2017, the consortium will have established the design capability and processes required to produce structural, semi-structural and Class A surface finished components in significant volumes. Granta is supporting the consortium by facilitating knowledge management with materials information management in GRANTA MI and decision-making tools for material and process selection.

Name: CORNET

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Funding: EU H2020 NMBP-07-2017

Partners: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Coordinator), Nanotechnology Lab LTFN, National Physical Laboratory UK, University of Surrey, Organic Electronic Technologies OET, Centro Ricerche Fiat, University of Ioannina, Centre National de la Recerche Scientifique CNRS, Granta, Fluxim, Hellenic Organic and Printed Electronics Association HOPE-A, AIXTRON

CORNET is an ambitious project submitted to the H2020 Call NMBP-07-2017, that will develop a unique EU Open Innovation Environment (OIE) covering the triangle of manufacturing, modeling and experimentation in order to optimize the Organic/Large Area Electronic (OE) materials, materials' behavior and nano-devices (OPVs, PPVs, OLEDs) manufacturing processes. This will be achieved by linking the nanostructure features with the macroscopic functionality through multiscale (nano to macro) characterization and modeling. This will strongly impact the fast and reliable development of new materials, devices and will enable control of the related production processes (R2R printing and gas transport (OVPD)) to fabricate tailored OE devices and systems to demonstrate to industrial applications (e.g. automotive, greenhouses). Granta’s role is to provide a materials information database system for the OIE.

Name: COMPOSELECTOR

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Politecnico di Torino, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, Granta, University of Trieste, Dow Chemical, Technical University of Prague, ESTECO, Airbus, e-Xstream Engineering, ESI-Group

The mission of COMPOSELECTOR is to develop a business decision support system (BDSS) which integrates materials modeling, business tools and databases into a single workflow to support the complex decision process involved in the selection and design of polymer-matrix composites (PMCs). It will develop an open integration platform which enables interoperability and information management of materials models and data and connects a rich ‘materials modelling layer’ with industry standard business process models. Granta is providing an enterprise-level materials information database to represent the end-users for materials information management (experimental, virtual) which will underpin the BDSS and interact with the modelling platform (MuPIF). Granta will also support business decisions directly with applications for risk management (REACH, cost, environment, etc.) and workflow capability.

Name: Computational Materials Data Network

Type: Industry Group

The Computational Materials Data Network (CMD Network)—founded by ASM International—supports, facilitates and promotes the collection, dissemination and management of materials data. Launched in response to the U.S. Materials Genome Initiative, the network aims to advance materials development and deployment by facilitating information sharing within the materials community.  The CMD Network supports advanced computational materials science and engineering by facilitating the completion of materials-related projects through interactive data sharing and collaboration. To propagate thorough and reliable materials data, the CMD Network conducts Materials Data Management Support Services and Materials Data Demonstration Projects, which dynamically interact with the Materials Data Laboratory™. Granta provides key enabling technology.

Name: EMMC-CSA

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: TU Wien, Fraunhofer, Goldbeck Consulting, Politecnico di Torino, Uppsala University, DOW, EPFL, Sintef, Dutch Polymer Institute, Access e.V., Helmholtz-Zentrum, Materials Design Sarl, QuantumWise A/S, University of York

The European Materials Modelling Council Coordination and Support Action (EMMC-CSA) will develop a common understanding of the requirements of materials modelling within Europe. It will organize workshops to collect and compile input from stakeholders to set a common direction in areas including model development, interoperability and metadata, best practices for business decision support tools and articulating economic and business impacts.

Name: FORCE

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Partners: DOW, Unilever, Megara Resins, IBM, Fraunhofer, Enthought, Enginsoft, Uni. Patras, ETH Zurich

The project aims to develop a software and data framework to enable non-expert users to access materials simulation to support business decision making. Consultants, or ‘translators’, will help map end-user product requirements to the appropriate models. Guidance for how to undertake this translation is an expected outcome. The project focuses on three industrial end-user cases by means of demonstration case study materials. The project is linked to the European Materials Modelling Council (EMMC). Granta will provide project data management to the project, based on the Granta MI materials information management system and provide guidance on data transfer between the systems in some key workflows.

Name: MarketPlace

Type: Active Collaborative Project

Funding: EU H2020 NMBP-25-2017

Partners: Fraunhofer IWM (Coordinator), Access e.V., Robert BOSCH GMBH, Crystalso OU, DSC Computing GMBH, Enthought Ltd., Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Goldbeck Consulting Ltd., Granta Design Ltd., Haute Ecole Specialisee de Suisse Occidentale, Johnson Matthey PLC, L’Urederra, MBN Nanomaterialia SPA, MTU Aero Engines AG, Norge Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet NTNU, Stiftelsen SINTEF, University College London, Sintef Ocean AS

The MarketPlace consortium will use state-of-the-art information technologies to build an open web-based integrated Materials Modeling and Collaboration platform that acts as one-stop-shop and open Marketplace for providing all of the determining components that need to be interwoven for successful and accelerated deployment of materials modeling in industry. This includes linking various activities and databases on models, information on simulation tools, communities, expertise exchange, course and training materials, lectures, seminars and tutorials. The proposed MarketPlace will be a central-hub for all materials modeling related activities in Europe and provide tangible tools to connect disparate modeling, translators and manufacturing communities to provide a vibrant collaboration web-based tool for the advancement of materials modeling in European manufacturing industry. Granta’s main role is to support platform development and access to materials data/information repositories.

Name: MUSICODE

Partners: Panepistimio Ioanninon, Karlsruher Institut Fuer Technologie, University Of Surrey, Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke V Praze, Fluxim Ag, Tinnit Technologies Gmbh, Ansys Granta, Esteco Spa, Organic Electronic Technologies Pc Ike, Apeva Se

Funding: EU H2020 NMBP-25-2017

MUSICODE is an ambitious project which addresses the H2020 Call DT-NMBP-11-2020 “Open Innovation Platform for Materials Modelling” that will develop a novel Open Innovation Materials Modelling Platform to enable the Organic and Large Area Electronics Industry (OLAE) to expediate accurate and knowledgeable business decisions on materials design and processing for optimization of the efficiency and quality of OLAE device manufacture. This platform will integrate: (a) Material, process and device modelling with workflows spanning the micro-, meso- and macro- scales, validated by expert academic and industry partners. (b) Integrated data management and modelling framework with ontology-based semantic interoperability between scales, solvers, data and workflows, with industry-accepted material and process modelling parameters and protocols, employing graphical user interface tools for workflow design, analysis, optimization and decision making. (c) Plug-ins to Materials Modelling Marketplaces, Open Translation Environment, Business Decision Support Systems, etc. and to High Performance Computing infrastructures for workflow execution. The platform will demonstrate industry user case workflows to optimize OLAE materials selection & design as well as printing and gas-phase manufacturing. The MUSICODE Business Plan will ensure the platform sustainability, exploitation and industrial adoption beyond the project, with the ambition to become the central Open Innovation Hub for the OLAE industry and evolve as the central paradigm for cross-domain applications. Ansys Granta underpins the platform with GRANTA MI to enable novel validated multiscale models and workflows for OLAE materials, processing and devices​. 

Name: nanoMECommons

Funding: European Commission, H2020

Partners: National Technical University Of Athens,  Universita Degli Studi Roma Tre, Sintef As, Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior Deinvestigaciones Cientificas, Innovation In Research & Engineering Solutions, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandtenforschung E.v., Goldbeck Consulting Limited, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Cambridge Nanomaterials Technology Ltd, Ansys Granta, Keysight Technologies Gmbh, Thales Sa, Centro Ricerche Fiat Scpa, Organic Electronic Technologies Private Company Ike, Basf Se, Conify P.c., Mesa Consult

NanoMECommons will establish a transnational and multidisciplinary research and innovation network to tackle the problem of nanomechanical materials characterisation in multiple industries. The focus of NanoMECommons is to employ innovative nano-scale mechanical testing procedures in real industrial environments, by developing harmonised and widely accepted characterisation methods, with reduced measurement discrepancy, and improved interoperability and traceability of data.

To achieve this goal, NanoMECommons will offer protocols for multi-technique, multi-scale characterisations of mechanical properties in a range of industrially relevant sectors, together with novel tools for data sharing and wider applicability across NMBP domain: reference materials, specific ontologies and standardised data documentation.

Ansys Granta will implement the central materials information management software system (GRANTA MI) to capture characterisation data and protocols (experimental and virtual) for the mechanical properties of interest, digitalizing the novel characterisation protocols.. 

Name: EcoBulk

Ecobulk is a large-scale European initiative which will demonstrate that re-using, upgrading, refurbishing and recycling composite products is possible, profitable, sustainable and appealing for the automotive, construction and furniture sectors. The project aims to establish a new design framework that will target new materials and design concepts to enhance circularity, refine and produce new circular materials at TRL7 and produce demonstration products for each target sector which can be (re)manufactured with over 80% recycled material. Ecobulk is a consortium of 29 companies representing manufacturers, designers, research institutions and industry associations. Granta:MI is used to support traceability of EcoBulk materials and processes data and information and to support selection for material and product for a circular economy.  

Name: IOM3 Sustainable Development

Type: Industry Group

The Sustainable Development Group (SDG) is the center of expertise on Sustainability and the Environment in IOM3 (the UK's Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining). Its roles include the promotion of whole life-cycle thinking across the professional interests of the members of IOM3 and it provides a body of expertise to respond to requests to the Institute for opinions on sustainable development and the environment. Granta provides expert input to this group to assist in coordinating relevant events and communities in the area of sustainable development in its broadest context, drawing upon relevant expertise in eco-design, restricted substances and critical materials.

Name: KTP Built Environment & Construction Industries Project

Type: Active Collaborative Project

The goal of this project is to develop a tool for the Built Environment and Construction sectors with a focus on cost, environmental and performance metrics to allow resource efficient selection of materials and components in design practice. This project is part of the Knowledge Transfer Program and the Knowledge Transfer Partner is the University of Cambridge, Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Division.

Name: iCLIMABUILT

Partners: National Technical University Of Athens - Ntua, Eurecat, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Sintef As, Norges Teknisk-naturvitenskapelige Universitet Ntnu, Rise Research Institutes Of Sweden Ab, Inegi, Innovation In Research & Engineering Solutions, University Of Strathclyde, Ansys Granta, Johanneberg Science Park, Fundacion Cidetec, Stratagem Energy Ltd, Fraunhofer, Politecnico Di Torino, Instituto Tecnologico De Aragon, Van Rompaey Sara, Aideas Ou, Fenx Ag, Centro Di Ricerche Europeo Di Tecnologie Design E Materiali, Bergamo Tecnologie Spzoo, Open Source Management Limited, Rubitherm Technologies Gmbh, Tegnology Aps

Funding: European Commission, H2020

Buildings account for around 40% of total energy use and 36% of CO2 emissions in Europe . According to the recast Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD) all new buildings after 2020 should reach nearly zero energy levels, meaning that they should demonstrate very low energy needs mainly covered by renewable energy sources. EU 2030 targets aim at least 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels), at least 32% share for renewable energy, at least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency , and 80% reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Therefore, an urgent need is present for a deep market transformation by deploying efficient materials and technologies in the construction sector to support the real implementation of nearly zero-energy/emission and plus-energy buildings (nZEBs) with high indoor environment quality across Europe. As energy consumption of buildings depend strongly on the climate and the local weather conditions, additional aspects arise (such as environmental, technical, user experience, functional and design aspects) on the selection of the appropriate material and technical components installation for a successful implementation of nZEBs. Further, this selection of materials and design for climate should be based on a circular economy perspective considering environmental, economic and social effects along value chains. Better utilisation of products and resources via reuse-repair-recycling is essential in achieving a transformation from a linear to a circular economy model. Many of the current materials and technical systems still have varying degree of difficulty in accomplishing a circular perspective. Material and technical system development in a ZEB framework should focus on building thermal performance improvement, high quality of indoor environment according to occupants’ comfort and health needs, while reducing the emission intensity in terms of production, maintenance, assembling and operation.

Ansys will develop the centralized data management system based on GRANTA MI software, which will serve as a knowledge-sharing platform, linking materials-processes-characterization data, along with methodologies for effective selection of materials for reducing the environmental impact of buildings. 

Name: INNPRESSME

Partners: Fundacion Cidetec, Fundacion Aitiip, Centre Technique Industriel De La Plasturgie Et Des Composites, Aimplas - Asociacion De Investigacion De Materiales Plasticos Y Conexas, Unismart Padova Enterprise Srl, Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus Vtt, Ansys Granta, Commissariat A L 'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v., Instytut Wlokien Naturalnych I Roslin Zielarskich, Oy Keskuslaboratorio - Centrallaboratorium Ab,  Gnanomat Sl, Polymaris Biotechnology, Rise Processum Ab, Wsvk Oederan Gmbh, Walki Oy, Skanem As, Maier Scoop, Greenovate ! Europe, Albea Services, Centro Ricerche Fiat Scpa, Asociacion Espanola De Normalizacion, Global Equity & Corporate Consulting Sl, Skeleton Technologies Gmbh, Podo Activa Sl, Innovation In Research & Engineering Solutions

Funding: European Commission, H2020

INN-PRESSME aims at developing and implementing a sustainable Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) to support European companies to scale up their nano-enabled biomaterials and processes from TRL 4-5 to 7. The project will focus on (nano)cellulose, bioplastics and natural fibres, combined with nanotechnology approaches to tailor biobased materials with properties and functionalities (barrier, antibacterial properties, improved corrosion or chemical resistance, etc.) that equal or outperform their fossil counterparts at competitive prices. INNPRESSME gathers 16 pilot lines, organized in routes and processes for feedstock conversion (PLA, PHA, fibre-based, cellulose-based), formulation and transformation and processing of bio-based  material to high added value products.

INN-PRESSME is a joint collaborative network of 27 partners from 10 EU countries from North (FI, NOR, SWE, UK, BE), South (SP, IT, FR) and Central Europe (GE, PO) with the goal of creating an entity (Single Entry Point) for characterisation of nano-enabled biomaterials. ANSYS provides digitalization services for the OITB, specifically by implementing GRANTA MI, an enterprise materials information management system, accompanied by tools for assessing material and product sustainability. 

Name: G.EN.ESI (a European Union FP7 project)

Type: Completed Collaborative Project

Partners: : Universita Politecnica della Marche, Bonfiglioli Vectron, Faber, Sibuet Environment, University of Bath, Grenoble INP, Granta Design

This project aimed to develop an eco-design methodology and a related software design tool able to help product designers in ecological design choices, without losing sight of cost and typical practicalities of industry. The software platform proposed a guided process towards eco-design among several design choices based on the different scenarios of product lifecycle. The proposed approach was applied to the household appliance field but it can be easily extended to other mechatronic products. The project started in February 2012 and continued until January 2015. Granta provided expertise and a platform for the communication between of a variety of leading eco-design tools to enable a more robust and supply chain oriented approach to the effective reduction of cost and environmental impacts at the design stage.

Name: Circular Economy Metrics (LIFE+)

Type: Completed Collaborative Project

Partners:  Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Cisco, Desso, Dorel, Kingfisher, Nespresso, Rolls-Royce

Working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, this project demonstrated that the concept of a ‘circular economy’ offers a practical alternative to the linear approach. It did this by developing and trialing a novel Product level and Company level Circular Economy Metrics methodology for measuring the performance of product and enterprises in the transition to the circular economy. Granta developed the first web tool for these Circular Economy metrics.

Name: ResCom (a European Union FP7 project)

Type: Completed Collaborative Project

The main objective of the "Resource Conservative Manufacturing" (ResCoM) project is to develop an innovative framework and a collaborative software platform for the industrial implementation of closed-loop manufacturing systems. To support the pilot operations, the ResCoM consortium will develop a software platform consisting of a closed-loop product lifecycle management module coupled with a materials information module. The platform will help guide design decisions by illustrating the benefits of clclosed-looproduct design in terms of resource efficiency, CO2 production and energy use, and will provide business metrics such as lifecycle cost estimates, rapid identification of critical materials, product specific and remanufacturing considerations and legislative requirements. Granta are providing web based tools for the assessment of Bills of Materials in relation to the life cycle impacts associated with products transitioning from a Linear economy to a Circular Economy.

Name: European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials

Type: Industry Group

The EIP on Raw Materials brings together EU Member States and other key stakeholders (such as European companies, European researchers and European NGOs) to promote innovation along the entire value chain of raw materials. It does this by supporting technologies, improving the framework policy conditions for raw materials and by promoting international cooperation. Granta contributed to the technical delivery of the Strategic Implementation Plan adopted by the High Level Steering group on Sep. 25, 2013, which fed into the Work Program for the 2014 and 2015 calls for Horizon 2020.

Name: PLEIADES

Funding: This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 715775.

Partners: Rolls-Royce (Topic Manager), Granta Design, sphera, University of Stuttgart, University of Surrey

PLEIADES is a collaborative project within Clean Sky 2, the European program to enable environmental improvements in next generation aircraft. Named after one of the brightest star constellations, PLEIADES is our contribution to clearer skies. The name also summarizes our project aspiration: a Project to Lead Eco-design Integration in Aerospace Development & Engineering Systems. Rolls-Royce acts as Topic Manager, ensuring that the project helps to deliver on the objectives of the 'Sustainable and Green Engines' integrated technology demonstrator (ITD) focus area within Clean Sky 2. Project partners are Granta Design and thinkstep, leading engineering and eco-design software organizations, and the University of Stuttgart and the University of Surrey, providing expertise in areas such as lifecycle assessment. Our aims are to:

• Develop industry-focused eco-design tools that support real aerospace engineering workflows
• Support development teams in taking a combined view of engineering, environmental, sustainability, and business considerations
• Achieve this through a focus on the vital role of material and process decisions in product development
• Integrate and ensure effective use of both primary and secondary data on materials, processes, and products
• Remove the barriers to cost-effective use of life cycle assessment approaches in product development

PLEIADES is a 4 year project which began in August 2016.

Name: AMSCA

Partners: Rolls-Royce, Monitor Coatings, Ashton & Moore, Indestructible Paint, The Manufacturing Technology Centre, Birmingham University, Loughborough University

European legislation (REACH) requires the elimination of hexavalent Chromium, which is carcinogenic, by September 2017. Current alternatives do not give acceptable performance, so new replacements are needed. This supply chain consortium was put together to address this issue. The project formulated a new sacrificial coating for corrosion porotection of steel aero engine components, with a focus on an improved science-based understanding of the coating behavior. Granta provided a single shared source of knowledge (based on Granta MI) ) used by all of the partners to capture and consolidate materials knowledge from alternative costing systems and evaluating risks associated with these systems to aid appropriate down selection and further enhancing their existing reporting tools in line with industry needs.

Name: ERECON: European Rare Earth Competency Network

Type: Industry Group

The European Rare Earths Competency Network brings together experts to look at ways of addressing the issue of supply security. ERECON is guided by a Steering Committee that sets the agenda of the Working Group meetings of rare earth experts. Each Working Group has a different mandate: the first focuses on the primary production of rare earths in the EU, the second looks at resource efficiency and recycling and the third on trends and challenges. Granta contributed to the technical delivery of working group III, representing the combined industry trends and demands observed during other collaborations and from groups such as the ADS Design for Environment working group to ensure that these views were adequately represented during the development of the Strategic Implementation Plan.

Name: Samulet

Type: Completed Collaborative Project

Lead Partner: Rolls-Royce

The Samulet industry-academic collaborative programme was led by Rolls-Royce and involved other high-profile manufacturers, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), and several of the UK’s top universities. Funding from industry, the UK Technology Strategy Board and Engineering, and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) totalled £90m. SAMULET aimed to ensure that the aero-engine industry remains competitive in the face of new 2020 emissions targets for aircraft and that it is in a position to manufacture engines for the next generation of civil aircraft. Granta provided materials eco-design and selection activities and developed background architecture and data to enable the assessment of environmental impacts, restricted substances and critical materials from within the CAD environment.