This paper was produced for the 2019 NAFEMS World Congress in Quebec Canada

Resource Abstract

In 2013, a new research campus called ARENA2036, which is the abbreviation for Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles, has been established at the University of Stuttgart. The year 2036 accounts for the 150th anniversary of the patented version of Carl Benz’s first three-wheeled vehicle with a combustion engine which led to the first serial production of motorized vehicles as we know them today. The main focus of the research campus is to investigate the rising importance of Industry 4.0 applications and in a first phase, three leading technical projects worked on topics such as lightweight design and system/sensor integration (LeiFu), new and adaptive production lines in industrial environments (ForschFab), and enhancing simulation capabilities with the definition of a digital prototype (DigitPro). The latter aimed to improve the daily life of simulation engineers by developing a digital prototype which defines a simulation data exchange platform based on a HDF5 data storage container and by improving mapping schemes to structural analysis meshes for selected process simulations such as braiding, resin infiltration, open-reed weaving (ORW), and draping of continuous fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials. This should help to close the simulation process chain within the project and is now used as a basis for a subsequent 5-years governmental funded project called “Digital Fingerprint".

To develop accurate and efficient mapping and data exchange interfaces, physical relevant parameters for the different processes have to be identified in a first step. In a second step, a proper data exchange format has to be defined, since the different partners use various software solutions which output results in different formats and therefore cannot be interpreted by other software tools. In this work, it will be shown why the HDF5 format seems to be a valid storage platform for a large amount of data which accumulates when following the full simulation process chain for all different kinds of materials, components, and processes. Furthermore, a first step has been made to define a common standard for simulation result data exchange and it will be discussed, why the ITEA-VMAP project seems to consist of the better consortium to target topics such as data semantics for resulting analysis data and their interpretation depending on the physical meaning in material modeling and what steps have already been taken to define a common data exchange format. In addition it will be discussed, how the resulting VMAP standard might influence the subsequent project “Digital Fingerprint” which aims for the inclusion of all relevant data being collected along a components life time from first concepts and computer aided design via the engineering process and its virtual process simulation chain until its final usage in real applications and probable failure.

Finally, an overview regarding the implementation status of the VMAP standard into the used mapping software envyo® shall be given, showing the capabilities to cover the use cases defined within the VMAP project. These examples will include a use case coupling thermal and structural analysis and a use case showing the simulation process chain for continuous fiber reinforced plastics. Furthermore, enhancements made for mapping processes within the ARENA2036 project will be discussed.