Materials and process selection from teaching to research and back: the Rhone Alpes experience

The development of systematic methods for materials and process selection i s a relatively new field. The variety of materials and processes available to the engineer, as well as the complexity of the set of requirements encou ntered in industrial situations, are the driving forces behind the developm ent of software aiming at the guidance of the designer. Born as pedagogical tools, such software, tailored for a given class of materials or of applic ations, has now in certain cases reached a degree of specialization that is mature and applicable to the industrial design process.