Virtual shaping and structural performance
Coordinator Prof. J. Huétink, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
This technology theme concentrates on improving our understanding of shaping processes and optimizing the application of these processes in the complete product creation cycle through modelling. A crucial aspect of these models is the availability, and where necessary the extension, of experimentally verified models which describe the behaviour of a material under the relevant operating conditions. Equally important are accurate mathematical descriptions of process conditions such as friction and heat transfer between the tools and the product. A new area of focus is how to optimize shaping with respect to the robustness of the shaping process.
The virtual prototyping of new products and production processes allows trial-and-error cycles to be reduced, thus leading to faster times to market, less waste and improved products. Local deviations from the optimal product shape and failures can be predicted by simulating shaping operations numerically, which results in better products and allows products to be designed better in terms of the desired functionality. The accurate modelling of length-scale effects in functional materials will help predict the reliability of miniaturized devices and systems.
Another important element in this cluster is the use of numerical simulations to predict the structural performance of finished products. This can relate to the stability of buildings in a fire, the resilience of a car in an accident, or predicting crack growth in structures made of composite materials for use in the aerospace sector.
Examples of research projects in this technology theme are:
- The spring-back of metals and composites after forming,
- Fatigue life estimates for metal structures based on damage modelling
- The application of nano-silica in concrete
- Tailor-made blanks for the aircraft industry
