Utilizing the digital prototype for a closed simulation process chain and data management

Since about three years, DigitPro, a sub-project of the government funded research project Active Research Environment for the Next generation of Automobile (ARENA2036) works on the development of a Digital Prototype, a closed simulation process chain which not only covers different simulation disciplines such as crushing or process analysis, but also various material modeling approaches on the micro-, meso-, and macro level. Various software tools are being used by the project partners, namely the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Institute of Textile Technology and Process Engineering (ITV), and the Institute of Aircraft Design (IFB) at the University of Stuttgart. The core of the Digital Prototype is a software tool called Envyo® being developed during the project runtime. It allows the project partners to exchange data from the different simulation programs being used, utilizing the open source HDF5 binary data format, and makes the data available for further analysis with an implemented data mapping process. This mapping algorithm allows for the transfer of information from the process simulation to the structural analysis, the homogenization and clustering of material parameter being generated with the use of representative unit cells (RUC) and the automation of predefined simulation processes including optimization loops for the most important manufacturing parameters. Within this paper, current developments of the Digital Prototype will be introduced and the influence of a closed simulation process chain will be shown.