Technological projects portfolio

The advanced mechanical engineering industry designs complex structures consisting of assemblies of multiple parts made with innovative materials.

The design of the end product involves a detailed understanding of the mechanical behaviour of the materials used and the interactions between the structure’s parts to predict its response under mechanical strain.

To achieve this, the use of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to measure kinematic fields has been developed to obtain the most complete measurement information possible when conducting tests.

Using digital simulation software to process these measurements would reduce development costs further by limiting the number of tests.

The MEDICINE project provides this coupling between the real world of tests and the theoretical world of simulation.

The MEDICINE project has given rise to a software suite: EikoTwin.

This user-friendly software environment goes beyond simple field measurement – it processes the measurements, connects them to industrial simulation code and couples the measurements with digital models.

This dialogue enables modelling that is closer to reality, more precise and able to account for mechanical behaviour observed during tests.

The digital model thus reduces the number of tests needed in the design of new products, reducing development costs.

The sectors targeted are testing and calculation in major mechanical engineering and energy groups, together with research laboratories.

The most obvious application is the characterisation of behavioural laws in structural materials (metals and alloys, concretes, composites etc.).

Other uses include displacement and deformation field measurements in prototype tests for early-stage research, characterising useful mechanical loads to assist with design and finally comparing test data against simulations.

EikoTwin is useful as a prototype design tool to validate the modelling adopted.