SimuSTART – Easy Access to Numerical Simulations

The »backbone of the German economy« is formed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They show a high level of research and development in many industrial sectors. Therefore, their focus on special and niche applications leads to substantial success in innovation. For example, in the food and chemical industry, more than 90 percent of enterprises are SMEs.

We want to support this drive for innovation with our software MESHFREE. For this purpose, we develop an SME-specific solution that facilitates the access to MESHFREE in cooperation with the Fraunhofer SCAI. And hence, into the world of numerical simulations.

From Design Directly into Simulation

In contrast to classical, mesh-based approaches, MESHFREE uses a point cloud to simulate fluid and continuum mechanical processes. This offers numerous advantages:

  • The manual and time-consuming generation of a mesh is obsolete, so the user’s focus is directed to the actual simulation task.
  • Simulations with free surfaces, phase boundaries, and moving geometries are handled much more efficiently.
  • Some simulation tasks only become feasible with this approach in the first place.
  • Evaluation of the simulation results is highly intuitive.

 

Custom-Made Solutions for SMEs

Currently, there are two particular obstacles for SMEs. Handling of the software requires expert knowledge. Large enterprises hire distinct employees for this, whereas SMEs generally do not have the necessary manpower. Many applications are feasible only with high computation power, which presupposes computing clusters and IT-support. Frequently, SMEs do not have access to those. In order to overcome these obstacles, we will develop a custom-made solution in cooperation with interested enterprises.

SimuSCOUT will enable the preparation of a MESHFREE-simulation without specific previous knowledge using only the existence of a geometry model.
SimuLAUNCHER will start a simulation on a local computer or in the cloud depending on the user’s choice and the available resources. Through these tools, SMEs will benefit from target-oriented results that are generated in short time. Thus, numerical simulations can be integrated into existing business processes much more easily and profitably.