Exercise 1: Selection using a Chart Stage

Use the Index line and Box selection tools to select materials based on their attribute values.

When plotted on a Chart Stage, records can be filtered using the Index line and Box selection tools. This provides a more qualitative approach to filtering.

  1. Make a bar chart of Yield strength (σy).

    Select MaterialUniverse: All bulk materials on the Chart/Select tab, click Chart/Select, and set the Y-Axis to Yield strength (elastic limit).

  2. Use a box selection to identify materials with high values of Yield strength.

    Click Box selection, then drag to define the selection box.

  3. Add Density (ρ) to the other chart axis.

    Click Chart Settings, and on the X-Axis tab, select Density as the axis attribute.

  4. Use an Index Line to identify materials with high values of specific strength σy / ρ.

    Click Index line.

    By default, the slope of the line is 1 and the objective is Maximize the index. This will result in selection of materials above the line, for high values of σy / ρ.

    Click OK and then click the chart to position the line through a particular point.

    Drag the line upwards to refine the selection to fewer materials.

  5. Add a Box selection to the chart to identify materials with low Density that maximize the index.
  6. Rank the results list by specific strength (Yield strength / Density).
    Show:
    Stage 1: Yield strength v. Density
    Rank by:
    Stage 1: Index value
  7. Delete all stages.