OpenChartMS: Ashby Material Selection Charts
A free, browser-based tool for teaching Mike Ashby’s material-selection method, built as an open alternative to Ansys Granta EduPack for my Harvard ES-192 course (and any class that teaches material selection by design).
What it does
- Material charts with property-limit screening, draggable index cutoffs,
and a custom-index editor (
M = yᵃ / xᵇ), plus lasso and box selection. - Trade-off analysis using Pareto fronts and penalty functions for conflicting objectives, with exchange-constant control and iso-cost contours.
- Multi-constraint coupling, hybrid material synthesis (composite bounds, foam scaling, sandwich panels), process selection, and an eco-audit lifecycle tab for energy and CO₂.
Data
159 materials with up to 22 properties each, assembled from the Ashby textbook appendices, ASM handbooks, manufacturer datasheets, and DFT values from the Materials Project. Every property value carries a per-cell source citation.
Built with a live demo at matsel.vercel.app.