Multiphysics

 

Software and Services

The MpCCI portfolio consists of a range of multiphysics interface solutions for co-simulation, integrated CAE workflows, digital twins, and accompanying CAE service solutions.

Ongoing R&D Projects

To enhance and apply our own methods and software solutions, the Multiphysics department initiates and involves itself in various cooperative projects with partners from industry and academia.

Strategic Topics

Our department has implemented a number of internal R&D projects on strategic topics and future solutions.

The virtual design and development of efficient manufacturing processes and advanced products is a major goal for any industry. Multiphysics co-simulation and integrated virtual engineering workflows are used to model effects of complete manufacturing history of the used materials and components, as well as the inferences of physical effects represented by coupled CAE models. The MpCCI interface portfolio from Fraunhofer SCAI provides a vendor neutral software solution for direct code coupling and seamless data transfer in integrated CAE workflows.

Digital Twins link real world data from production machines and physical tests with virtual models and simulation results. Smart analysis tools help to find correlations between data and increase prognostic capabilities over time. The emerging MpCCI Twin Toolbox will provide general architecture concepts and sophisticated twin modules to enhance your Digital Twin realization.

The smart combination of multiphysics modelling with smart digital twin concepts will provide better insights into manufacturing processes and complex product behavior. Fraunhofer SCAI offers its expertise and R&D support to realize solutions for industry partners, and as partner in national and international cooperation projects.

Software and Services

Fraunhofer SCAI’s business area Multiphysics provides MpCCI Software and Services for various CAE disciplines and engineering domains. The overall ambition is to enable a deeper integration of virtual engineering processes and real world data into high-fidelity Digital Twins:

  • MpCCI CouplingEnvironment enables a co-simulation of (commercial) CAE tools to model e.g. fluid-structure-interactions, thermal and radiation coupling, thermal management of electrical engines, or for magneto-hydrodynamics in electric arcs.

  • MpCCI Mapping tools provide a seamless data transfer within integrated CAE workflows– including file-format conversion, mesh-2-mesh comparison, interpolation of simulation results between incompatible mesh definitions, and validation capabilities.

  • MpCCI Twin Toolbox defines concepts and software to enable the integration of real world data in virtual engineering processes, and to apply dedicated AI-based search and analytics methods. Typical examples are the validation and adjustment of virtual crash models by incorporating data from physical crash experiments or direct support for CAE standards like VMAP.

  • Computer Aided Biomedical Engineering – In several practical joint projects numerical simulation and optimization methods were applied to investigate physical effects in devices for life sciences.
Logo MpCCI

Ongoing R&D Projects

The Multiphysics business area has initiated many of following industrial and 3rd party funded R&D projects. All of these R&D activities are driven by concrete demands from customers and industry communities. Within these projects, existing MpCCI solutions are applied to challenging engineering applications, new methods and tools are developed, and standardization activities are supported:


DigitalTwin-4-Multiphysics-Lab
The joint DigitalTwin-4-Multiphysics-Lab laboratory (Fraunhofer SCAI, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Dr. Reinold Hagen Foundation) aims to create new Digital Twin concept for SMEs.
Read more

ITEA VMAP analytics
The vision of ITEA project VMAP analytics is to enable the realisation of smart Digital Twins for materials and manufacturing design tasks.
Read more

Fraunhofer HABICHT

The Fraunhofer project HABICHT aims at the development of a highly efficient electric motor for compressors in hydrogen fuel cells.
Read more

BMWi BonoKeram
BMWi funded project BonoKeram works on increasing the flexibility, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of small gas turbines through the provision of components made from monolithic advanced ceramics.
Read more

BMBF NanoINHAL

The aim of the BMBF funded project NanoINHAL is to develop an innovative testing system for investigating the toxic effects of airborne nanomaterials.
Read more

Fraunhofer DigitalTPC
The Fraunhofer project DigitalTPC aims at the holistic consideration of all sub-process steps, partly taking place at different locations, from the semi-finished product to the component production.
Read more

UmLac
The AiF funded project UmLac deals with material models and characteristic value determination for the industrial application of forming and crash simulation.
Read more

ITEA VMAP
The goal of the ITEA project VMAP was to create the first open vendor-neutral standard for computer-aided engineering data storage, thereby enhancing the interoperability of software tools and reducing costs and effort for companies.
Read more

Strategic Topics

Strategic R&D Topics which are of major importance for our own business and which are not yet fully embedded in a publicly funded R&D project or license-funded product development.

  • Smart Coupling – The goal is the realization of domain-specific and AI-assisted solutions to evaluate multiphysics simulation models.

  • Smart Digital Twins – Aims to create an open framework of ontology systems for manufacturing and product design purposes.

  • Interoperability and Standards – There is a strong need for more interdisciplinary engineering work and interoperability of software solutions.

  • Hybrid Surrogate Modelling – A surrogate model is an engineering method used when an outcome of interest cannot be easily measured directly, so a model of the outcome is used instead.

News and Publications

Fraunhofer’s PREPARE Project “Habicht” hosts first Review meeting (May 2022)
" ... This project is an excellent example of pioneering high-tech product development in conjunction with simultaneous materials and measurement development and simulation technology." - Jürgen Ulm, HS Heilbronn
Project page "Habicht"


Digital Twin and Multiphysics Solutions – Multiple Presentations at NAFEMS World Congress 2021 (October 2021)

VMAP Standard and the VMAP Standards Community / VMAP Enabling Interoperability in Integrated CAE Simulation Workflows/ Bridging the Gap between Product and Simulation Data Management / A Digital Twin for Lightweight Thermoplastic Composite Part Production / Smart Automatic Configurator for Fast and Robust Fluid Structure Interaction Co-Simulations / Using Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Design of In-Vitro Testing Methods for Inhalable Micro- and Nanoparticles
Read more 

VMAP – Presentation at 13th European LS-DYNA Conference 2021 (October 2021)

VMAP enabling interoperability in integrated CAE simulation workflows
Read more

MpCCI Solutions – Presentation at 2021 JMAG&PSIM User Conference (October 2021)
Multiphysics Simulations for Electrical Components Design with MpCCI
Read more

VMAP received the ITEA Award of Excellence for Standardisation (September 2021)

“[…] VMAP has outstanding outcomes that will fasten the digitalisation process of all industries […] - Zeynep Sarılar, ITEA Chairwoman
Read more

Fraunhofer DigitalTPC – Presentation at DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2021 (May 2021)

Inlinetauglichkeit von zerstörungsfreien Prüfmethoden für den digitalen Zwilling von thermoplastischen Carbonfaser-Tapes
Read more

MpCCI CouplingEnvironment 4.6.1 released (March 2021)
Solved synchronization issue with parallel codes / Updates for various code interfaces...
Read more

MpCCI FSIMapper 4.6.1 released (March 2021)

Updates for FLUENT CFF format / OpenMP based MpCCI Visualizer / ...
Read more

Fraunhofer Project HABICHT started (February 2021)
The project aims to design and develop a high speed motor for a fuel cell compressor to enable innovation in the utility vehicle and aviation domain...
Read more

Project ITEA VMAP analytics has started (January 2021)
The vision of VMAP analytics is to enable the realisation of smart Digital Twins for materials and manufacturing design tasks. ...
Read more

Whitepaper: Ontologies for Digital Twins in Smart Manufacturing  (November 2020)

We propose a first integral ontology centered around multiphysics simulations and digital twins in manufacturing …
Read more