Micro design and value analysis. the selection of the material for die

Abstract

The selection of a material for an application in engineering or its replacement with another material, superior in terms of engineering, economics and environmental impact is an important stage in the design process of a product. The present paper presents a modern and original method for optimizing the selection of the material needed to obtain a new product—for maximizing its performance and minimizing its cost—to obtain the sustainable development objectives. The work strategy involves setting the functions of the product, the matrix and the related programs to select the optimal material from the existing database, applying the value analysis approach for obtaining a material for the selected product, for optimizing the product’s value–performance/cost ratio. For the automation of calculations and ease of design work, the authors have developed calculus programs/ software. The literature presents techniques for selecting materials in order to obtain a new product or for finding a new material for a given product but the complexity of the problems specific to the selection process leads to new research. Based on our experience in the field, on the relevant examples for applying the Value Analysis approach to industrial products, we, the authors, submit a paper that is a challenge for different fields of expertize and which contributes to this new emerging field of “material selection”.