Simulation Methods – Time-Saving Ways to Model Complex Processes

MESHFREE Wins Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 2024

Press Release / June 12, 2024

From the automotive sector to production: Simulations and digital twins are crucial to many companies. highly dynamic processes often cannot be satisfactorily mapped with conventional software, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM have developed a new method that works without a rigid computational grid and is able to simulate complex processes with great time savings and thus cost-effectively. Their efforts have earned them the 2024 Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.

Rigid specifications rarely fit agile processes – and what applies to organizations also applies to simulation methods. If complex processes such as aquaplaning or metal cutting are to be mapped virtually, not all component movements can be predicted in advance and incorporated into a suitable computational mesh like those customarily used for simulations.

Meshfree Replaces Real-Life Testing

A research group at the Fraunhofer ITWM faced this challenge over 20 years ago. »Our very first task within the project team was to simulate how an airbag would deploy in a vehicle collision,« reports Dr. Jörg Kuhnert, who was already part of the group back then. »At that time, there was no way to quickly verify the safety of new developments in this field aside from costly real-world crash tests.« The more objects that move and interact with each other in a situation, the more difficult it is to reliably map them with classic simulation methods at a reasonable cost.

Based on Jörg Kuhnert's dissertation, the team – joined in 2012 by Dr. Isabel Michel with a focus on Pelton turbines – developed the innovative mesh-free approach. This new approach makes it possible to virtualize highly complex and dynamic situa-tions, in some cases for the very first time. All the research findings have since been incorporated into the MESHFREE software. The result is a simulation tool with a unique selling point: Worldwide, no other tool makes the Generalized Finite Difference Method (GFDM) usable in industrial applications.

Flexible Method for Dynamic Processes

Traditionally, simulations use the finite element method, in which engineers design a mesh that fits the relevant geometry and use it as a basis for computing the chang-es in each individual element. The initial process of setting up the mesh structure is already highly time-consuming, and frequent adjustments are required during the simulation as well. The MESHFREE software, by contrast, combines the Generalized Finite Difference Method, which it uses to solve the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy, with efficient algorithms for solving linear systems of equations. These were developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI and offer a huge advantage since the cloud of numerical points used can adapt flexibly to moving geometries. This eliminates the need for laborious subsequent corrections in the computational mesh. Kuhnert and Michel receive the 2024 Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for their development, which can replace real-world testing.

Further Information

Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize

Since 1978, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has been awarding the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize to its employees for outstanding scientific achievements in solving application-oriented problems. This year, three prizes of 50,000 euros each will be awarded to groups of researchers from different institutes.

Fraunhofer Annual Conference 2024 (fraunhofer.de)

© Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft / Piotr Banczerowski
The MESHFREE team is very pleased with this great prize.

From Automotive to Process Engineering – And Beyond

The award-winning method can be used for a wide spectrum of applications. One current area of focus is the automotive sector. In addition to airbag simulation, the researchers have assisted industry partners in a variety of ways to date, for example in modeling driving through water or behavior of vehicles on sand or gravel. In process engineering, MESHFREE has helped companies optimize process parameters when working with molten glass and producing plastic parts.

Fundamentally, this method can be used anywhere a substitute is needed for measurements or experiments, or where these methods do not work well or not at all. Isabel Michel sums up: »We’re not fixated on the traditional use cases for computational fluid dynamics. MESHFREE can do much more: We deliberately kept the tool more general.« This means the software has a wealth of potential for cutting costs and saving time and material in many other fields of application as well going forward.

Press Release

Simulation Methods – Time-Saving Ways to Model Complex Processes

MESHFREE Wins Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 2024

Meshfree Replaces Real-Life Testing

Flexible Method for Dynamic Processes

Further Information

Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize

From Automotive to Process Engineering – And Beyond

German Video to the Prize

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Dr. Jörg Kuhnert