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ONLINE MATERIAL DATABASE

The pressure is on to reduce development times in the automotive industry

Fast, accurate material data from your steel supplier can give you the competitive advantage by saving time and cost acquiring material data and by enabling more accurate simulations for reduced tool try-out time and no surprises during crash testing.

HIGH QUALITY, ADVANCED MATERIAL DATA AND EXPERT ADVICE

What’s in Aurora® Online?

  • Tata Steel's automotive product range
  • High quality data, representative of production material, developed and maintained by our experts
  • Full range of material properties such as forming, joining, fatigue and crash data
  • New product data sets to speed up material evaluation and assessment for application in new vehicles
  • Access to most up-to-date material data and information on new grades for early evaluation
  • Material data sheets available as both raw basic data (Excel data sheets) and ready-to-run input decks for the most commonly used FEA packages, saving time in feasibility assessments
  • Expert support: where you have a specific challenge our experts are there to support you to set up the simulation and evaluate the results.

More accurate simulations for smoother tool try out and testing

Aurora Online offers our customers on-demand access to representative material data and advanced material models to predict and enable accurate simulations for reduced tool try-out time and no surprises during crash testing. Using advanced material data and plasticity models and with the support of our world leading R&D experts on material plasticity, you can set up accurate and reliable forming and crash simulations that reduce lead times and lower expenditure on materials testing during the development of new vehicles and tooling.

Getting access
Aurora printscreen 1528x684
SAVE HOURS SETTING UP SIMULATIONS


Aurora Online provides data sets that depict the actual steel properties, and not simply the specification limits. With all data available in easy-to-read Excel data sheets and in ready-to-run input deck format, customers no longer need to fit yield loci, forming limit curves and hardening curves themselves.

That's how this powerful tool will save you hours in setting up accurate, reliable simulations. The ready-to-run input decks are available for the most commonly-used forming software packages including:

  • AutoForm
  • LS-DYNA
  • PAMSTAMP (ESI Group)
  • PAMCRASH (ESI Group)
  • Stampack Xpress
  • Radioss
  • MSC Marc 
  • Mentat/Simufact Forming

Instant access to material data when you need it for material assessment 

The Aurora Online database is instantly and easily accessible, ensuring accurate and consistent data whenever you want it, without having to call suppliers or test samples, making it ideal for urgent requests. It also offers access to the most up-to-date material data and information on new grades for the early evaluation of new materials.

VEGTER 2017 AND ABSPOEL & SCHOLTING FLC

Highly accurate advanced material models

Accurate simulations are not only about high quality data, but also realistic material models. Tata Steel's R&D has experts dedicated to the development of representative material models for all material types. Examples include:

  • Vegter 2017 Yield Locus: a new method for predicting advanced yield criteria input parameters from tensile properties 
  • Abspoel & Scholting Forming Limit Curve: an efficient and reliable method for predicting forming limit curves from tensile properties in 0°, 45° and 90°

Aurora Online contains both input data and ready-to-run decks to facilitate easy use of these models. You can achieve the most accurate simulation result with a minimal amount of experimental input data:

  • no need for special tests (biaxial, plane strain and shear stress points)
  • as easy as Hill’48 and Keeler, but much more accurate

FEA suppliers AutoForm, LS-DYNA, MSC Marc and Mentat, PAM-CRASH (ESI Group), PAM-STAMP (ESI Group) and Stampack Xpress have implemented Vegter (2017) in their software allowing you to use the same material models globally. The Abspoel & Scholting Forming Limit Curve is implemented in AutoForm. For other packages the data can be imported as tabulated data. 

Aurora Online Vegter 2017
Aurora Online

Getting access

Tata Steel offers Aurora Online to its valued customers to support fast evaluation of new products, to access advanced material cards for accurate simulations and to enable joint simulation projects. Click here to apply for access. Information on how we process your data can be found in our privacy statement. 

Supported by experts in simulation/modelling

The excellent reliability and accuracy of Aurora Online’s advanced material data and plasticity models is thanks to Tata Steel’s Innovation Centre, a world leading authority on material plasticity. 

Tata Steel’s experts in material data and modelling are there to support Aurora Online users with specific challenges by advising on simulation set up and evaluation to get the most realistic results. 

 

ASK OUR EXPERTS
For questions about the data and models within Aurora Online and user assistance, please contact our experts:
Yi Gao, Engineering Fellow
Engineering Fellow

Biography:
Yi brings over 30 years of experience in steel and aluminium applications, stemming from his PhD research on metal composite fatigue. His expertise extends beyond fatigue and fracture to encompass automotive material selection and electrical steels for EV e-motors.

Yi’s extensive customer support background includes serving as an R&D Resident / Liaison Engineer for a major UK automotive OEM. In this role, he bridges the gap between company experts and customers, while providing direct technical responses within his own areas of expertise.

As the technical lead and coordinator for Tata Steel UK, Yi represents the company in Innovate-UK collaborations focused on steel applications for E-mobility.
E: yi.gao@tatasteeleurope.com

Yi Gao
Area of speciality: Material modelling and testing
Andy Ruthven
Principal Engineer

Further area of speciality:- Forming simulation on different methods of making parts from sheet steel including but not limited to stamping, hydroforming, bending, roll forming and hot pressing in all steel but most experience on Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS).  Analysed panels from all areas of an Automotive vehicle so has extensive knowledge on assembly and is an expert on Value Added / Value engineering VA/VE’s on Body in white structures (BIW).

Biography:
Andy has working as an automotive consultant at Tata steel for 26 years. His experience in using FEA started at University conducting aerodynamics studies on formula student race car during his Mechanical Engineering Degree.  This lead to a career at Tata Steel learning stamping simulation using ESI’s Pamstamp whilst backed up with practical problem solving using strain analysis at customer press shops.  Considerable experience has been built up over the years evaluating AHSS parts and working on flagship projects (ULSAB, ULSAS, FSV,) where his expertise has been recognised Globally.  During the is time an Masters of Research in Material Engineering was completed   Tata steel was also one of the first companies to link forming properties to crash (F2C) where he was heavily involved with the development.  Tata steel also started doing VA/VE’s and Andy became a valued contributed to these projects providing lots of ideas using his earned expertise on  automotive structures, crash requirements, forming feasibility, manufacturing and assembly knowledge.  Over the years his skill has been used in 100’s of project providing solutions to customers and this has spread from the automotive sector into other business units, for instance Yellow goods and Packaging.  Whilst continually learning throughout  his career Andy is more than happy to pass his knowledge on to Graduates coming into he business.  Currently, most of his work involves leading material test organisation, evaluation and customer support projects.
E: Andy.Ruthven@tatasteeleurope.com
 

Andrew Ruthven
Area of speciality: Forming and material testing
Janka Cafolla
Principal engineer

Further area of speciality: vehicle impact simulations predominantly using LS-DYNA; gauge/grade optimisation of vehicle components and off-highway machinery; fracture modelling; Aurora Online UK administrator.

Biography:
Janka has worked in the automotive sector as a structural analyst for 25 years. Her experience with finite element modelling started during her studies at Warwick University where she gained her PhD in Structural Engineering. Her considerable experience in crash analysis is helping Tata Steel evaluate the potential for new steels in body structures. Her expertise in LS-DYNA software supports many Value Added / Value Engineering (VA/VE) projects; projects involving the light weighting of vehicle structures or its components in either automotive or off-highway sectors; understanding of modelling fracture failure in FE software and many other projects. Over the years with TATA Steel, Janka has led several projects supporting customers and new product development and application of advanced / ultra high-strength steel grades.

E: Janka.Cafolla@tatasteeleurope.com 

Janka Cafolla
Area of speciality: Crashworthiness and structural analysis
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Quick links and publications
Title Journal / Conference Author(s)
A plane stress yield function for anisotropic sheet material by interpolation of biaxial stress states International Journal of Plasticity 22 (2006), p. 557 H. Vegter, A.H. van den Boogaard
A new method for predicting advanced yield criteria input parameters from mechanical properties Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Volume 248, October 2017, Pages 161–177 M. Abspoel, M.E. Scholting, M. Lansbergen, Y.G. An, H. Vegter
A new method for predicting Forming Limit Curves from mechanical properties Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Volume 213, Issue 5, May 2013, Pages 759–769 M. Abspoel, M.E. Scholting, J.M.M. Droog
Accurate anisotropic material modelling using only tensile tests for hot and cold forming IOPSCIENCE Journal of Physics: Conference series, Volume 896 Conference 1 (IDDRG 2017) M. Abspoel, M.E. Scholting, M. Lansbergen, B.M. Neelis
Analytical and experimental study of frictional behavior in through-thickness compression test Journal of Materials Processing Technology 160 (2005) 148–155 Y.G. An, H.Vegter
A novel and simple method for the measurement of plane strain work hardening Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1616–1622 Y.G. An, H. Vegter, L. Elliott
Development of simple shear test for the measurement of work hardening Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 4248–4254 Y.G. An, H. Vegter, J. Heijne
Experimental analysis of strain path dependent ductile damage mechanics and forming limits Mechanics of Materials, Volume 41, Issue 11, November 2009, Pages 1264-1276 C.C. Tasan, J.P.M.Hoefnagels, C.H.L.J. ten Horn, M.G.D.Geers
Inherent influence of strain path in Nakazima FLC IDDRG 2011 M. Abspoel, E.H. Atzema, J.M.M. Droog, T. Khandeparkar, M.E. Scholting, F.J. Schouten, H. Vegter
Testing methods for fracture modelling Werkstoffprüfung 2009 C.H.L.J. ten Horn, M.P.J. Lambriks, K. Unruh
Thermomechanical forming and crash simulations IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering M Abspoel , M E Scholting and M Lansbergen
Improved plane strain prediction and easy to use 3D extension for Vegter 2017 yield locus Forming Technology Forum 2022, Enschede M Abspoel , M E Scholting, M Lansbergen and J. Mulder
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