Jump to main content
Energy-Efficient Product and Process Innovations in Production Engineering
Product Development

Methods and Virtual Technologies for the Development of Energy-Efficient Products

Today, energy-related indicators and energy flows have hardly been considered, or only indirectly, in design, development and planning tools. Likewise, there has been no linking of simulation algorithms and design reviews in order to be able to test the effects of changes to design parameters on the production properties – in particular "energy efficiency" – when realising developments within a team. The objective is therefore to develop new methods and software tools, which support developers in designing new assets and consumer goods (in particular, machine tools) with a minimised energy requirement over their life-cycle. The developed methods and tools thus constitute a resource with which to integrate energy efficiency into product development, both in terms of methodology and through the use of information technology.
 

Sub-Projects

Virtual Basic Technologies for Energy Efficiency Analyses
Modern simulation algorithms form an important building block in product development in order to be able to predict the relevant properties (e.g. tensions, heat distribution) of products that do not yet exist in real form. For this reason, the focus is on the development of new adaptive simulations. In order to allow expert knowledge to flow into product development, it is important to acquire an understanding of the facts. This should be achieved through the use of virtual reality technology and its direct linking with existing simulations.
Workflow, Data and Cost Management
The goal is the development of methods, models and IT tools for the consistent, energy-related, computer-assisted analysis and modelling of product development processes. This is summarised in the form of workflow, data and energy (cost) management. Within the scope of data management, methods and concepts are being developed to simplify the integration of calculation and simulation models into the product development process. In combination with a workflow management system, targeted energy and cost analyses to facilitate decision-making during product development are possible. In addition, methods for cross-period (based on life-cycle) energy costing and methods of supporting early energy (cost) management are being developed, and an information system based on energy costs is being created. The developed methods and models for workflow, data and cost management from an energy efficiency perspective are to be integrated into a domain-specific interactive software platform.
Resource and Energy-Efficient Product Development Using Virtual Prototypes
Through the increasing use of digital verification with virtual functional prototypes, the creation of physical prototypes is increasingly being abandoned in the development process. This saves considerable costs and energy in the development phase. Here the focus is on the creation of functional virtual prototypes for the verification of control functionalities. The main purpose of virtual prototypes for industrial control functionalities, together with process simulations, is to make it possible to test processing technologies and strategies in advance, and to optimise them with regard to the energy-efficient use of the machine tool.
 

Head of Field of Action

Dr. Volker Wittstock

Professorship for Machine Tools and Forming Technology

Participants

Social Media

Connect with Us: