Cross-Sectional Working Groups

In addition to the fields of action and the sub-projects, five cross-sectional working groups (CWG) were set up as communication and transfer platforms. Their purpose was coordination and knowledge transfer between the various fields of action within the cluster of excellence.
The task of the CWGs was to initiate and support interdisciplinary subjects located at the interfaces between the fields of action. Working in interdisciplinary teams, the scientists developed new active principles, construction methods and technologies for the reduction of the primary energy requirement and for increasing energy efficiency in production.

Research Tasks of the Cross-Sectional Working Groups

Energy-Economy Accounting

The focus was on interdisciplinary exchange, i.e. the discussion and transfer of approaches and methods with which energy and resource consumption can be recorded and evaluated, taking into account technical, economic and ecological criteria. To this end, discipline-specific terminology definitions and methods in the area of energy-economy accounting were exchanged and documented:

Conducting interdisciplinary accounting and evaluation of eniPROD^® objects
Development of cross-sectoral methods
Exchange and transfer of acquired knowledge

Energy Management / Energy Cycles

Alongside the energy-efficient design of processes and production systems, the user's energy supply must be covered. Here energy management and the visualisation of energy cycles are used. In addition to planning, the remit of energy management also includes the organisation of units of energy consumption:

Development of energy monitoring and management methods
Preparation of energy information and knowledge
Design of an energy management system

Energy-Efficient Products and Production Systems

Through the forecasting of stress curves and final deformations, optimisations can already be made to the component geometry during the design phase, leading to reduced use of material resources. The focus was on fundamental issues relating to the simulation of innovative materials using adaptive Finite Element Methods (aFEM):

Use of aFEM for variant calculation of a fibre-reinforced conveyor chain link
Testing and optimisation of the geometry parameters with rapid variant calculation and parameter variation
Combination of various material models of complex component assemblies

Process Chain Powertrain

The main goal of the Process Chain Powertrain cross-sectional working group was the interdisciplinary exchange of experience and knowledge in the area of the manufacture of powertrain components. Through the discussion of production engineering requirements from the perspective of various specialist fields, new approaches to optimisation at the process and process chain level could be identified more quickly and implemented within a development process, for example:

Development of simulation-based energy conservation concepts for the cooling units of machine tools
Performance of studies on thermal treatment in forming
Use of thin layers for the reduction of friction

Process Chain Car Body Structures

In order to be able to design and control the manufacture of components or products in a targeted manner, an early financial evaluation of the process chains is required, among other requirements. The evaluation was intended to make a selection from the wide range of different production process and process chain alternatives, but also to present suggestions for improvement. By way of example, the modelling and economic evaluation of press hardening process chains was thus promoted:

Financial accounting of press hardening process chains
Development and implementation of a technology demonstrator within composite materials
Visualisation of the process chain car body structures using Virtual Reality