Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWMFeelMath is a fast and easy to use analysis tool for elastic micro-structures given by volume images or analytical descriptions.
Extracting Information for the Microstructure
The micro-structure of a material affects its properties like thermal conductivity, elasticity, or acoustic absorption. Image analysis provides micro-structure information needed as input for the dimensioning at the macroscale, i.e. at the level of the whole part.
SEM images, tomographies and the image analysis yield the important information for the micro structure. In addition, the representative volume element is defined small enough not to claim too much capacity but it is also large enough to stay efficiently.
Finding the Optimal Microstructure
Finally, the modeling opens the door to the so-called virtual material design and optimization of micro-structures. Simple changes of model parameters result in slightly altered geometries, in which the target property can be simulated again.
This cycle can be repeated until the optimal micro-structure is found. Thus, costly mechanical tests and production of samples can be reduced while the relation between micro-structure and reaulting properties is better understood.
