Material selection is a crucial part of product development, especially because it allows professionals to choose the options most likely to provide specific desirable characteristics. The progress researchers and design teams make could improve manufacturing. What progress has occurred so far?
Discovering New Opportunities for Better Asphalt
As experts explore ways to make widely used materials more sustainable, many efforts center on reclaimed products. Reusing them rather than sending them to landfills provides numerous supply chain and environmental benefits.
In one example, researchers tested how well artificial intelligence algorithms could predict the moisture tolerance of asphalts with reclaimed materials. They took this approach because liquid is especially damaging to pavement in wet and cold climates, often causing potholes, stripping and cracking.
The group examined the performance of four algorithms intended for engineers. The results showed they revealed material suitability more efficiently and less expensively than traditional, lab-based methods that are time-consuming and energy-intensive.
Besides helping users determine how well asphalt will withstand the elements, the group envisioned broader applications, such as bridge design, railroad monitoring and disaster resilience. If AI continues giving accurate results faster than manual methods can, engineers, designers and other professionals will have plenty of reasons to consider it.
Enabling Parameter-Specific Selections
Those selecting materials must evaluate numerous aspects to find the options most likely to perform best in the anticipated environment. Considering temperature or moisture exposure and mechanical loads can help them understand a material’s probable longevity. Accounting for contributing factors is also important, especially when surfaces touch or are close together. For example, galvanic corrosion can occur when a fastener secures a dissimilar material.
Design teams must evaluate all the necessary characteristics and rank them according to importance. Is it more important for a material to last longer than competing options or to be more sustainable than commercially available products? Narrowing the requirements helps them understand what to focus on during each stage.
Sector-specific resources can also help professionals overcome common obstacles. In one case, a startup released an architecture platform made for those working in the field. Those involved with the project recognized that material selection can be one of the most tedious parts of the work, so they created a cloud-based platform to help.
Users can find superior alternatives to standard materials or source those produced closer to construction sites to save emissions. The platform has an AI-driven visual search process that lets them adapt to new building code requirements or client needs while tracking what they have used in past projects. Additionally, users can browse through 23,000 projects to see roof and cladding materials or other particulars.
Resources like this one give professionals a centralized resource to support their work and save time. They can also collaborate with other like-minded individuals, helping material innovations advance.
Achieving a Sustainable Process Improvement
Many manufacturers and other industrial leaders are interested in making strategic changes to address particular shortcomings. That was the case when two Swedish companies collaborated to shrink the carbon footprint for two-component injection-molded products.
Those involved created numerous possibilities to see how each one affected the results. In addition to targeting the carbon footprint, the professionals also hoped to optimize adhesion and make products more recyclable. One finding was switching from a combination of two fossil fuel-based products to one recycled material and another with biocircular-attributed content decreased the CO2 emissions by 77% while increasing compatibility with recycling centers’ equipment and end-of-life options.
Alternatively, using a particular type of mechanically recycled plastic with another biocircular-attributed one caused a 57% reduction compared to the fossil fuel-based equivalents. The participants confirmed that these options provided the necessary durability and adhesion while being more sustainable.
These results show the benefits of collaborating to use knowledge and problem-solving skills to tackle persistent sector issues. Doing so can improve material selection confidence, which can help manufacturers find the most viable possibilities.
An Exciting Future in Material Selection
Material selection occurs in the early stages of projects, but its effects shape overall success. These fascinating examples show how technology and teamwork can improve efforts in numerous industries and applications.
