Key to Metals Expands Material Property Library Exclusively for Altair Partner Alliance Users

Also included exclusively for APA users is the brand new functionality that allows selection and export of advanced property data from the database into specific solvers ready for direct import into CAE software.

KEY to METALS, originally launched within the Partner Alliance in January 2012, and has experienced great success since, being well received by APA users. KtM quickly became one the APA’s most downloaded tools, with an average of more than 50 companies using monthly and over 300 users worldwide.

“We have been extremely satisfied with our experience as part of the Altair Partner Alliance thus far,” said Neil Baumann, COO for Key to Metals. “We have chosen to provide a unique application to our APA customers to enhance their user experience, as well as to allow for increased versatility and extended capabilities of the library.”

Developed exclusively for APA users, KtM has introduced KEY to METALS Premium Edition. This version provides brand new functionality that allows users to efficiently and accurately move material property data from the KEY to METALS database into CAE software, including Altair’s own HyperWorks, through an array of customized and solver compatible formats. Premium Edition also includes a new non-metallic material property library, called PLUS, already containing more than 10,000 polymer materials, as well as ceramics and composites, and more than 500 stress-strain curves for plastic materials, which continues to grow constantly.

“It is no secret that material properties are key to getting correct answers with finite elements simulations,” said Dave Mason, Altair’s vice president of global automotive. “We are very pleased with the success of KEY to METALS in the APA program, and are confident the expanded material libraries and integration with HyperWorks in this new Premium Edition will bring tremendous value and opportunity to our users.

This Premium version includes KEY to METALS Extended Range, which provides an unparalleled material properties resource for advanced structural and thermal calculations and analysis. It provides stress-strain curves, fatigue data, fracture mechanics information and creep data for thousands of materials. Combined with readily available elastic range properties for more than 100,000 materials worldwide, Extended Range saves users time and money through intelligent search methods and enhances the depth and quality of information required for CAE and FEA analysis.

KEY to METALS utilizes international cross-reference tables, making it possible to find and compare materials from around the world. Such data as chemical compositions, mechanical and physical properties, heat treatment diagrams, and properties at elevated temperatures are available to users. KEY to METALS supports global businesses by being available in 21 languages, including Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Arabic, to name a few.

Applicable almost anywhere in the engineering world, KEY to METALS and Extended Range are currently functional in a large number of industrial sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, heavy machinery, power and energy, electronics and technology, plus many more diversified groups. KEY to METALS Premium Edition is expected to have an even larger array of possible and functional applications, due to its extension into non-metallic materials.

Available for the last 12 years, Altair’s innovative units-based licensing system allows HyperWorks users customizable access to a growing portfolio of applications, optimizing their return on investment by making more than 28 in-house-developed applications available by use of a single pool of recyclable HyperWorks units.

After experiencing this original licensing model’s success, Altair has offered the opportunity for third-party companies to run their own applications under this unit-based system, a collaboration now known as the Altair Partner Alliance. The overall flexibility of these HWUs empowers users and allows them access to the largest and most complete suite of CAE applications available, making the benefits to participating HyperWorks customers infinite. The ROI increases for users each time a new application is added to the offering, since any of the partner programs can be accessed using the same leased HWUs they are already using to run HyperWorks. This makes more than 55 additional applications available at no incremental cost or long-term commitment.