Submitted Abstract
This PoC application is the result of 18 years of research and innovation, hand-in-hand with future users, where the PI and his collaborators developed methods to make numerical modelling and simulation in engineering and medicine intuitive, robust, simple and quality-controlled by optimizing human efforts, solution time and quality.The main aim of the PoC work is to deliver a software prototype for Intuitive Modelling and Simulation, tested by both experienced and novice users and to build a commercialization plan.The field of this PoC is Modelling and Simulation (M&S). The basic idea behind M&S is to replace physical experiments by virtual experiments done in the computer (in silico). Modelling and Simulation saves time and resources when designing new products and processes as it enables to investigate a large number of scenarios virtually, with minimum recourse to physical experiments. In the automotive industry for example, crash tests are now mostly done virtually, saving enormous amounts of money and time. More globally, numerical simulations have thus had an enormous impact on industries ranging from automotive over aircraft to defence and security and are central to the design and advent of the “smart and connected world” we know today.It is estimated that the global simulation and analysis software market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% between 2017 and 2021, and reach a steady CAGR of 13% in 2020. The market is expected “to surpass [US] $ 8 billion by 2022”. The major drivers responsible for market growth are reduction in product design time and cost, and consolidation within the industry, in particular through mergers and acquisitions of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) players.The market for numerical simulation is divided into a large number of subsegments corresponding to two major user classes:- Extreme 1: Expert users, e.g. in safety-critical industries such as aerospace, nuclear and off-shore. A particularly challenging subsegment is the simulation of crack propagation in structures, which we estimate represents approximately 1-2% of all simulations. In this market segment, there are few very experienced users and importance is given to quality of the results. A major barrier today in this market segment is the use of “codes of practice” which avoid numerical simulations. A successful product should therefore be cheap and easy enough to use compared to the competition to ensure optimal market penetration.- Extreme 2: Non-expert users, e.g. for art, rapid prototyping. The importance of numerical simulation in everyday life, performed by non-experts is expected to increase significantly, due to progress of 3D printing technologies, enabling the “FactoryAtHome”[1] concept. This market segment is, contrary to the first, filled with a large number of non-expert users, interested in fast solutions, with a minor focus on solution accuracy but a strong need for robustness.In this PoC, we intend to develop a prototype software and target both extremes of the market. To achieve this, we attack one of the most severe and human-labour intensive hurdles in numerical modelling and simulation: the generation of a mesh.