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SIMLab, the main research group behind SFI CASA, has
nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to delivery. When 64
Norwegian technological research groups were evaluated in
2015, two were rated world-leading. SIMLab was one of them.
Research quality, industrial impact and organization were the
main criteria. However, as is often the case, the better you
excel at something, the better you understand the potential for
improvement. So CASA decided to form the IRG.
A CERTAIN LOGIC
Although there is no immediate connection, there is a certain
logic to an Audi guy heading the IRG: Strating’s colleague
Thomas Hambrecht was closely involved in the establishment
of the SIMLab Tool Box. In many ways the IRG and the Tool
Box serve the same purpose – moving scientific findings from
journals to industrial applications.
The mandate asks the IRG to propose deliverables from the
Methods and Tools Programme, where the Tool Box is a central
instrument, to evaluate and schedule the implementation of
the obtained results, and give guidelines on how to carry out
implementation.
TRIGGERED BY SIMLAB
Arjan Strating says it like this:
“IRG will have an advisory function with focus on industrial
application. We all need to get something out of SFI CASA. In
the case of the industrial partners, we need knowledge and
tools that can improve product development.
“In this respect, SFI SIMLab served as a trigger and generated
a considerable appetite. In 2007, it wasn’t at all clear where
it would end. When we got the tools in place, we reached
industrial relevance.
“The Tool Box represents a jump-start for CASA. Without the
tools, we would have risked a gap of three or four years before
we reached industrial relevance again. All of us are much more
aware of this need now than when we started SFI SIMLab. The
challenge is to keep the momentum.”
PIONEERS
The concept of establishing an Industrial Reference Group is
new. Arjan Strating likes the challenge:
“There is no blueprint that we can take from somewhere, so
one of the first things we have to do, is to fill the shell with life
together with the IRG representatives,” he says.
The partners have common responsibility for moulding the
future results. The aim is to ensure that applicable knowledge
migrates from CASA to enhanced product development in the
partners’ home organizations. Simply tapping the Tool Box is
not good enough.
“It would be a great pity if the findings of SFI CASA end up in a
drawer. We all know that this is a common phenomenon; often
universities aren’t able to provide the links that bring research
to the market. To avoid this, our ambition will be a high level of
participation where the partners articulate themselves in open
discussions,” Strating adds.
SURVEY
To get the process going, all partners have been sent two
surveys with a series of questions. The answers revealed
some of the challenges facing the IRG in their effort to work
out an efficient implementation plan. A technical seminar in
March and an IRG meeting in November discussed how the
implementation must be linked to a strategy where the models
and technology developed are validated on the basis of a
generic experimental hierarchy. This means that tests must be
representative for several business sectors. Other challenges
are to define what is within the CASA domain and what is not,
and how personnel can be used to support implementation.
SCEPTICISM TURNED AROUND
Strating confesses that he was a bit sceptical about the idea
of the surveys.
“Now I am very happy about it. We received some very clear and
converging answers. The partners know what they want: a Tool
Box that can be easily interpreted and available for daily use. At
the same time we realize that we have to raise awareness that
everyone has a responsibility to contribute,” he says.
The IRG meeting in November revealed that there was strong
common interest in integrating the knowledge and tools
from CASA into everyday engineering applications across all
business sectors. Most of the partners want to see the CASA
tools coded into commercial finite element solvers as soon as
possible. The requests for application guidelines and training
in using the tools are steadily increasing.
IMPROVED FUTURE STANDARDS
“It is very encouraging to observe that more and more partners
have started internal activities around the Tool Box. Intensive
benchmark studies against established commercial models
and the exchange of employees between industry and NTNU
for knowledge transfer are good examples. This is a clear
indication of the potential of the tools and shows that industry
considers that CASA’s tools could contribute to improved future
standards in numerical simulations. This emphasizes the need
for a continuous implementation process in an industrial
context even more.
“The plan to establish a uniform validation hierarchy has also
reached the next step. All business sectors involved share
a relevant common basis regarding materials, joints and
loading situations. Of course there are some blind spots in
the landscape, but it is a good and efficient starting point to
design tests and procedures from. So, it may not surprise you
that I am looking forward to next IRG meeting in May 2017 in
Ingolstadt with excitement,” Strating sums up.
INDUSTRIAL
Reference Group in the Mould
An SFI that doesn’t help industry isn’t an SFI; a simple fact and a real challenge.
That’s why CASA has established an Industrial Reference Group. At the helm: Audi’s Arjan Strating.