Example 1: Lightweight Structural Component for a Drone Frame

Context:

You're a design engineer at a drone manufacturing startup. Your current project involves developing a new, high-performance drone frame. The primary objective is to maximize flight time and payload capacity, which directly correlates to minimizing the frame's weight. The frame needs to withstand typical operational stresses without deforming excessively, ensuring stable flight. Furthermore, the company is targeting the European market for this first model and committed to source the component on the local market, the material selected will have to comply with the regulations for electronics components within the EU.

Objective:

Identify low density materials, available in Europe, that provide the best combination of high strength (>250MPa) and stiffness (>20GPa) at room temperature, while also complying with specific regulations (e.g., RoHS).

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1

Select Total Materia Mode

Without a specific list or equivalent, the recommended approach is to use Total Materia mode to search the extensive 500,000 material database.

2

Select the Regional Availability

In specifying the geographic scope for material procurement, define Europe as the key region of focus. This strategic choice is aimed at optimizing supply chain logistics, fostering relationships with European suppliers, and adhering to regional trade standards and regulatory frameworks. Additionally, focusing on Europe may aid in minimizing transit times, reducing overall transportation costs, and enhancing sustainability practices by decreasing the carbon footprint associated with long-distance shipping. Thus, Europe serves as our designated region for procuring materials to enhance operational efficiency and local engagement.

3

Best Tensile Strength

Adding a criterion for tensile strength at a minimum of 250 MPa is essential to support the load requirements of the drone. By setting the target to "higher is better," materials with superior tensile strengths are favored. This approach allows for the use of less material while maintaining the same load-bearing capacity, thereby optimizing the drone's structural efficiency. The importance of this criterion should be set to medium high (5), and it should be defined as mandatory, ensuring that this condition is consistently met in material selection.

4

Best Stifness

To ensure that the selected material offers significant resistance to deformation under stress, set a criterion for the modulus of elasticity with a minimum threshold of 20 GPa, favoring values that are higher for optimal stiffness. This measure will help identify materials that maintain structural integrity with minimal deflection. While a high stiffness is advantageous, prioritize this criterion with medium importance relative to other factors, allowing a balanced approach.

5

The lightest material

To prioritize lightweight materials in the selection process, introduce a criterion based on density with a maximum threshold of 2 kg/dm³. By setting the target to "lower is better," you effectively score lighter materials higher, aligning with the objective to enhance the design's efficiency. Given its critical role in optimizing performance and ensuring the efficacy of the drone design, assign the highest level of importance (10) to this criterion and classify it as mandatory. This approach ensures that the lightest possible materials are considered, contributing significantly to the overall objectives of your project.

6

Ensure RoHS Compliance

Incorporating RoHS 2015 compliance as a mandatory criterion ensures that the selected material adheres to essential environmental and safety standards by restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in the manufacturing process.

Given that compliance does not directly influence the material's physical or mechanical properties, its importance can be set very low, at 1 or even 0.1, ensuring the final score predominantly reflects the material's performance characteristics. This approach ensures adherence to regulatory requirements without compromising the focus on the drone's structural and performance objectives.

7

Modulate your parameters

Experiment with adjusting criteria weights, such as setting density and tensile strength to equal importance, to observe how the results differ and explore alternative materials.

Going Further

Your company would like to reduce its carbon footprint although already sourcing materials locally, materials with some recycled content could be considered of higher importance

➡️ Add a criteria on recycled content (Green Line - Sustainability)