Unit 1: Material Searching and

Comparing

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Introduction: Material Searching and
Comparing

Aim

To learn how to search and compare thermoplastic materials in the material database.

Why do it

For every analysis, a material will need to be picked so an analysis can be run. The material to be
used may be known or one can be chosen based on searching the database. To help in the
selection of the material, one material can be compared to one or more other materials to see what
the variation between the materials will be.

Overview

There are several ways material can be picked for an analysis depending on the information
known. If the manufacturer and trade name are known, they can be picked from a list. If the
material to be used is not known, a material search can be done to find a material. Once a
material is picked, it can be compared with other materials and a report on the materials quality
can be viewed.
Theory: Material Searching and Comparing

Select Material Dialog

The Select Material dialog allows you to select the material to be used in an analysis. You can
access the material database through this dialog in order to plot the properties of a material, search
for a specific material, select a material, and add the material to a commonly used list. See Figure
7. Find Tenite 1870

Commonly used materials

The Commonly used materials area contains a list of the materials that you use most often. You
may add and remove materials from the Specific Material list containing over 7000 materials. The
purpose of this list is to reduce the need for searching the material database.
Once you have located a specific material, it can be copied to the Commonly used material area,
reducing the need to repeatedly search for materials that are used more frequently. Select the Add
material to commonly used list box when selecting a material if you wish to add it to the
Commonly used materials list.

Specific material
The Specific material area contains a list of every material entry in the material database
containing over 7000 materials, sorted by Manufacturer, and then Trade Name.

Searching

The Search Criteria dialog allows you to specify a filtered criteria to use when searching the
database. For example, you might search for all plastic materials whose family abbreviation
includes TP, or whose melt-mass flow rate is in the range 10-15g/10min. See Figure 1. Search
Criteria dialog. After creating a criteria you can also Save it, and Open that and any other saved
criteria into other projects.

Material Searching, page 4

Figure 1. Search Criteria dialog
Search Fields
The Search Fields area is a list of default search properties, that can be added using the Add
button and Add Search fields dialog. See Figure 1. Search Criteria dialog.
Once you add the Search Fields, they will automatically be added below the existing default
fields. After the addition of filters, if at any time you need to change the default search properties
criteria, you can do so by using the Clear Filters button. Once you have changed a default filter,
the words <modified > in red appear next to words Search Criteria, indicating a change has taken
place.

Sub String
The Sub String area, located to the right-hand of the Search Fields area allows you to specify the
text or numerical characters you wish to search for, and so apply a filter.
For example, if you select Family Abbreviation as your search criteria, and you type TP as the
substring, then the search mechanism will find materials with the following Family Abbreviations,
among others: TPE, TPO, TPU, TPR.

Saving and Loading Search Criteria

Once you have defined a search criteria, it can be saved and loaded into the Search Fields area,
saving you the time of constantly rebuilding a search criteria. After loading a saved criteria,
returning to the default criteria settings can be easily restored by using the Reset To Default
Search Criteria button.

Reviewing Search Criteria Results

After defining a material search criteria, the results can be displayed in the Select Thermoplastics
material dialog. In adding to searching the material database, you can search the other types of
User, or System databases accessed through the Search Databases dialog indicated below.
Figure 2. Search Databases
Organizing database columns
To change the appearance of a database depends entirely on the type of information required for
display. Figure 3. Columns dialog, indicates just some of the options for Coolant property type in
the Material database. In the example, you can see placing a checkmark next to the column name
will allow it to become visible.
Organization of columns can be done either by clicking on the heading of the column, or by
dragging the column heading and moving in either direction. Exporting of the database search
results data is achieved when you click the Export button, whereupon a simple text report is
produced.

Figure 3. Columns dialog

Material Details

The Thermoplastics Material dialog can be accessed when you double-click (Material) in the
Study Tasks pane. You do not need to assign a material to your model as a default one is
automatically assigned for you. When the Thermoplastics Material dialog appears you will notice
eight tabs, these are divided so that each tab gives you a detailed breakdown of the properties for:
Recommended Processing conditions, PVT data, and specify the physical properties of any filler
material(s) added to the thermoplastics material, etc.
On some of the Thermoplastics Material dialog tabs if a property name is shown in red, it
indicates that the property has not been tested for that specific material. However, material data
from the testing of a comparable generic grade was found to be suitable and has been assigned to
the material.

On some of the tabs additional functionality can be accessed. For example, some tabs have
buttons to view the source of the material data, the date it was created and, where relevant, the test
method used to create the data. Other tabs have Plot data buttons.
Material Report

The Material Data Method Report dialog allows you to view material data on a material.
You can view this kind of data either by using right-click functionality from the already chosen
material in your Study Tasks pane, or, selecting a material from within the All Thermoplastics
material (System) database. See Figure 12. Material Data Method Report.

Compare Materials

To access the Compare functionality you first need to have a material selected, as indicated in
Figure 4. Compare materials.

Figure 4. Compare materials

The Select Materials To Compare With dialog allows you to compare material data with other
types of materials. When it appears the first column on the left is a table of content. After
highlighting any amount of materials from the first column, click the Compare button to open the
Material Test Method and Data comparison Report. See Figure 5. Material Test Method and Data
comparison Report.

The first column on the left is a table of content, while the second column is the material assigned
to your study. All subsequent columns after that represent the comparative material(s) chosen
from the Database properties table.
Figure 5. Material Test Method and Data comparison Report
Practice: Material Searching and Comparing

Below are several examples of using the select and search capabilities of MPI.

Find a material with a known Manufacturer and Trade Name

How you check to see if a material is on the database depends on the information you are given
about the material.
If you are given the material’s manufacturer and trade name, the best place to find the material is
to scroll through the Manufacturer and Trade name fields on the Select Material dialog. This can
be seen in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Select Material Dialog

Navigating through list is easily done by:

 The scroll bar
 Typing the first few letters of the name you are looking for
 The arrow keys

The tab key can be used to navigate between the Manufacturer and Trade Name fields.
 To open the project directory

1. Click (File Open Project), and navigate to the folder where the Moldflow Training
projects are stored.
2. Open the folder materials.
3. Double click on the file materials.mpi.

 To open the cover model

1. Click on the file Cover. sdy, and click Open.
2. Rotate the model around to review the geometry.

 Find the material Eastman Chemical Tenite 1870.

1. Double-click (Select Material) in the Study Tasks pane.
3. Click on the Manufacturer field.
4. Scroll through the list until you find Eastman Chemical Products.
As an alternative, type east.
5. Click on the Trade name field.
6. Scroll through the list until you find tenite 1870, or type ten and use arrow keys

Figure 7. Find Tenite 1870

 Using Search

Sometimes the manufacturer of the material is not known, but the trade name is. The Search
Criteria dialog is useful for finding materials when the manufacturer and trade name are not
known.
The Search Criteria dialog will have default search fields defined the first time it is opened. Other
fields can be added at any time. The fields added are stored so the next time the dialog is opened
the same fields and even substrings are set.
It is a good idea each time a new search is started the Clear Filters button is clicked. This will
clear all the substrings for all the Search Fields. This may prevent searching problems.

 Find the material Lexan 141

1. Click on the Search button on the Select Material dialog. See Figure 7.
2. Click the Clear Filters button.
3. Look in the Search Fields list. Make sure Trade name is in that list.
If it is not, use the Add button and find the Trade name search field and add it to the list.
4. In the Substring field, enter lexan 141.
5. Click the diskette icon and enter the name Lexan. This will save the search criteria for later
use.
6. Click the OK button.

Figure 8. Search Criteria dialog.

A new dialog called Select Thermoplastics material dialog will come up with the search results.
See Figure 9. From this list there are two grades of Lexan 141. One is from a European division
the other from a US division.
 Figure 9. Lexan search results

 To Compare the materials

1. Highlight both lexan 141 grades.
2. Click on the Compare button.
3. Scroll up and down through the report to see the differences.
4. Click on one or more of the graph icons to see the data compared graphically. Notice the data
can be saved to a file using the diskette icon.

Find a similar material

To find similar materials using the material database in MPI, use specific search criteria to narrow
your search. You can use the following popular search criteria including;
 Manufacturer
 Trade Name
 Family abbreviation
 Filler data: Description
 Filler data: Weight
 Moldflow viscosity index
 Data source
 Any property stored in the database.

Once a search has been performed,

 All fields can be sorted by clicking on the column heading in the Select Thermoplastics
material dialog.
 Highlighting a material and clicking the Details button can be done to view the properties of
a material
 From Details the viscosity curves of materials can be plotted.
 As shown before, the compare command can be used.

All this information is used to find and compare similar materials. Using a good search can
narrow down the list of materials before using the compare command.

Finding similar materials can be useful for several reasons including:

 Find a material to use that is on the database as a substitute for a material that is not.
 Run a flow analysis with different materials to determine the material the part will be molded
with.
 To see the effect different materials have on the part’s wall thickness.
 Find all Polycarbonates on the database with 20% Glass filler

 Find all PC’s

Finding the material will be done in steps. This is a common way to search for a material. Start
with one search field and add criteria one at a time.
1. Click on the Search button from the Select materials dialog.
2. Click the Clear Filters button.
3. Enter pc for the family abbreviation substring.
4. Click OK.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the Select Thermoplastic Materials dialog.
6. Note that there are about 1050 materials listed.
7. Look in the Family Abbreviation column. Many of the materials listed are PC blends.
8. Click on the Family Abbreviation column. This will sort the column.
9. Scroll up and down the list. Note that now all PC’s are together and there are about 700.

Note: The substring used in searching uses “includes” not “exactly”. This may result in more
materials pick than desired.

Tip: The Select Thermoplastics materials dialog that comes up with search results can be resized
so more information can be seen at one time.

 Add glass to the search

1. Get back to the Search Criteria dialog by clicking on the Search button.
2. Enter glass for the Filler data: Description field.
3. Click OK.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the Select Thermoplastic Materials dialog.
5. Note that there are about 184 materials listed.
6. Look in the Family Abbreviation column. Many of the materials listed are PC blends.
7. Click on the Family Abbreviation column. This will sort the column.
8. Scroll up and down the list. Note that now all PC’s are together and there are about 145.
9. Click on the Filler Data: Weight column. Note the range of glass filler is from about 5% to
50%. There are several 20% glass materials.
 Add Weight to the search
1. Get back to the Search Criteria dialog by clicking on the Search button.
2. Enter 20 for both Filler data: Weight fields.
3. Click OK.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the Select Thermoplastic Materials dialog.
5. Note that there are about 49 materials listed.
6. Look in the Family Abbreviation column. Some of the materials listed are PC blends.
7. Click on the Family Abbreviation column. This will sort the column.
8. Scroll up and down the list. Note that now all PC’s are together and there are about 40.

Figure 10. Filler Weight search setup

All other fields can be searched in the same way. A combination of using different search fields
and sorting the column can be used to limit the searching.
 Moldflow Viscosity Index

Moldflow Viscosity Index is searchable property that is very useful for comparing materials. It is
a single point viscosity number much like melt flow rate but the shear rate used for the viscosity
index is in the range of shear rates seen with injection molding.

The viscosity index is in a form or VI(300)120. The number in parentheses is the melt
temperature in degrees C, and the last number is the viscosity in Pa.s. The shear rate used in the
index is always 1000 1/sec. This shear rate is within the range seen during injection molding so
the viscosity index is a good representation for comparing one material to another. All materials
of a particular type have the same temperature so materials can be easily compared. The higher
the material’s viscosity index, the stiffer the material. Many times the viscosity index is used in
conjunction with the search criteria family abbreviation to separate materials that are blended.
Many times the blends use different temperatures in the viscosity index so the viscosity index can
be searched.

 Find all ABS’s

1. Click on the Search button from the Select materials dialog.
2. Click the Clear Filters button.
3. Enter ABS for the family abbreviation sub-string.
4. Click OK.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the Select Thermoplastic Materials dialog.
6. Note that there are about 778 materials listed.
7. Look in the Family Abbreviation column. Many of the materials listed are ABS blends.
8. Click on the Family Abbreviation column heading to sort the column.
9. Scroll up and down the list. Note that now all ABS’s are together and there are about 525.
 Add viscosity index to the search
1. Get back to the Search Criteria dialog by clicking on the Search button.
2. Check to see if Moldflow Viscosity Index is in the search fields list. If not, click the Add
button. If it is in the list, skip to step 5.
3. Find the Moldflow Viscosity Index in the list of search fields.
4. Click the Add button to add it to the Search Fields list.
5. Enter 240) for the Moldflow Viscosity Index field.
3. Click OK.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the Select Thermoplastic Materials dialog.
5. Note that there are about 535 materials listed.
6. Look in the Family Abbreviation column. Many of the materials listed are ABS blends.
7. Click on the Family Abbreviation column. This will sort the column.
8. Scroll up and down the list. Note that now all ABS’s are together and there are about 535.
9. Click on the Moldflow Viscosity Index Column. This will sort the Viscosity Index. The
higher the number the more viscous. This is a handy way to do a quick comparison on the
viscosity between materials.
You could further refine the viscosity index search by putting in a longer string for the
viscosity index such as (240)1. This would search for all viscosity index’s in the 100’s
 Plotting Viscosity

Once a list of materials is developed, the properties of a highlighted material can be viewed by
clicking on the Details button. This will let you view all the properties stored for a material.

 Plot the viscosity curve for a material

1. Highlight a material on the Select Thermoplastic material dialog.
2. Click the Details button.
3. Click the Rheological Properties tab, and then the View viscosity model coefficients.
4. On the View viscosity model coefficients dialog click the Plot Viscosity button.

Figure 11. Material Details

Once the viscosity plot is created, the query and options buttons can be used. The query button
shows the shear rate and viscosity at the location the mouse is clicked on the screen between the
curves. The options button allows the user to scale the X and Y-axes.
Material Data Method Report

On the select material dialogs, there is a report button. This button can be used to show a report
for the selected material. This will highlight the quality of the data and give advice for its use as
indicated in Figure 12. Material Data Method Report.
Material Data Method Report:

Manufacturer Dow Chemicals USA

Trade Name Styron 693
Family Abbreviation PS
Fibers / Fillers Unfilled
Moldflow Material ID 20094
Moldflow Grade Code MAT1804

The material was tested by Moldflow Plastics Labs. Data was last updated
on OCT-29-2002.
This data is Non-Confidential.

SUMMARY:
Data Type Date Method
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rheology 04-SEP-02 Injection Molding Rheology
Thermal 13-SEP-02 Line - Source
Specific Heat 13-SEP-02 DSC cooling
pvT 05-SEP-02 Indirect Dilatometry
Shrinkage 29-OCT-02 CRIMS

RHEOLOGY:
The material's rheological behavior was tested by Moldflow Plastics Labs
by an injection molding rheometer. Data was last updated on 04-SEP-02.
This method exposes the sample to shear, temperature, and pressure
history similar to those in injection molding. Studies performed by
Moldflow Plastics Labs have shown the use of injection molding rheology
data contribute to improved comparisons between experimental mold
pressure traces and simulation results of molding pressure during the
filling stage.
This data is per Moldflow Plastics Labs current recommended best method
for process simulation CAE. The method used applies well to most
materials and applications.

THERMAL:
The material's thermal conductivity was tested by Moldflow Plastics Labs
by means of a Transient Line-source method. Data was last updated on 13-
SEP-02. Thermal conductivity was established at multiple temperatures.
This data is per Moldflow Plastics Labs current recommended best method
for process simulation CAE. The method used applies well to most
materials and applications, and may lead to more accurate simulations
than single point data or data acquired by test methods less appropriate
for polymers.

SPECIFIC HEAT:
The material's specific heat was tested by Moldflow Plastics Labs by
means of a differential Scanning calorimeter in a cooling mode. Data was
last updated on 13-SEP-02. Specific heat was established at multiple
temperatures.
This data is per Moldflow Plastics Labs current recommended best method
for process simulation CAE. The method used applies well to most
materials and applications, and may lead to more accurate simulations
than single point data or data acquired in heat modes.

pvT:
The material's pvT data was tested by Moldflow Plastics Labs by means of
an indirect dilatometer. Data was last updated on 05-SEP-02.
Moldflow's recommends the use of measured pvT data such as this.

SHRINKAGE (MIDPLANE & FUSION MODELS ONLY):

For this analysis, shrinkage and warpage predictions will be based on a
corrected residual stress in mold stress (CRIMS) model from measured
material shrinkage data provided by Moldflow Plastics Labs. Data has been
correlated to this software build and was last updated on 29-OCT-02.
This method uses experimental data that takes into account the
sensitivity of the material shrinkage to part thickness, mold
temperature, melt temperature, filling flow rate, packing pressure, and
packing time.
This is the most accurate method of modeling and predicting shrinkage and
warpage in the software.
Analysis of approximately 184 mold trials on 7 unfilled PS materials
showed:
In the direction parallel to flow 162 of those simulations (~88% of
the cases) were within 25% of experimental values when CRIMS data was
used. In contrast, simulations without the use of a model from measured
shrinkage data showed that 129 of those simulations (~70% of the cases)
were NOT within 25% of experimental values.
In the direction perpendicular to flow 146 of those simulations (~78%
of the cases) were within 25% of experimental values when CRIMS data was
used. In contrast, simulations without the use of a model from measured
shrinkage data showed that 141 of those simulations (~75% of the cases)
were NOT within 25% of experimental values.

DISCLAIMER:
The information contained in this report has been prepared by Moldflow
Corporation based on data and other information received from third
parties. No representations or warranties are provided regarding this
report or its conclusions and Moldflow Corporation specifically disclaims
any liability that may result from reliance on these results.

Copyright 2002 Moldflow Corporation

Figure 12. Material Data Method Report

Competency Check - Materials

Answer the following questions in the space provided, using material searching in MPI

1. Is there a US supplier of Magnum 3504? (Y/N)

In what region(s) of the world is the material available
If it is available, what is the Manufacturer and Trade name?
Manufacturer Trade name

2. How many HDPE are on the database?

How many HDPE’s are from Ticona?
What is the highest Viscosity index (VI) for a HDPE from Ticona
What is the Tradename of a the highest VI HDPE from Ticona

3. What is the total number of PA66’s on the DB with a VI of

VI(290)?
What is the number of glass filled PA66’s on the DB?
What is the highest glass content of the PA66’s?
What is the lowest glass content of the PA66’s?
How many Zytel’s have 33% glass filled?
What is the trade name of the lowest VI Zytel 33% glass filled?

4. What is the total number of PBT’s on the DB?

What is the number of glass filled PBT’s on the DB?
What is the number of 30% glass filled PBT’s on the DB?
How many 30% glass filled PBT’s does the supplier Bayer AG
have?
How many PBT’s does Bayer AG have that are glass filled?
What is the Trade name for the Bayer AG material with 12% glass?
What is the Trade name for the Bayer AG material with 10% glass?

5. How many grades of PEEK are on the DB?

How many PEEK grades are from LNP?

Material Searching, page 23

How many LNP PEEK’s have carbon fillers?
How many different trade names?

Material Searching, page 24

Evaluation Sheet - Materials

1. Is there a US supplier of Magnum 3504? (Y/N) No

In what region(s) of the world is the material available Europe
If it is available, what is the Manufacturer and Trade name?
Manufacturer Dow Chemicals Europe Trade name Magnum 3504

2. How many HDPE are on the database? 205

How many HDPE’s are from BP Chemicals? 21
What is the highest Viscosity index (VI) for a HDPE from BP? VI(230)429
Rigidex
What is the Tradename of a the highest VI HDPE from BP HM5420XP

3. What is the total number of PA66’s on the DB with a VI of 415 (No

VI(290)? Blends)
What is the number of glass filled PA66’s on the DB? 227
What is the highest glass content of the PA66’s? 60%
What is the lowest glass content of the PA66’s? 5%
How many Zytel’s have 33% glass filled? 12
What is the trade name of the lowest VI Zytel 33% glass filled? Zytel FE5422
BK275

4. What is the total number of PBT’s on the DB? 498

What is the number of glass filled PBT’s on the DB? 273
What is the number of 30% glass filled PBT’s on the DB? 121
How many 30% glass filled PBT’s does the supplier Bayer AG
have? 4
How many PBT’s does Bayer AG have that are glass filled? 15
What is the Trade name for the Bayer AG material with 12% glass? Pocan B 4215
What is the Trade name for the Bayer AG material with 10% glass? Pocan B3215

5. How many grades of PEEK are on the DB?

How many PEEK grades are from LNP?
How many LNP PEEK’s have carbon fillers?
How many different trade names?
Note the answers are based on MPI 4.0 build 02473. If a different build of software is used
the answers may be slightly different.

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