Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWMMarketPlace is an interdisciplinary platform that brings together researchers and engineers from different fields to advance material modeling and develop new materials.
Materials Modeling Marketplace for Increased Industrial Innovation
Completed research project
Project description
The MarketPlace consortium leveraged state-of-the-art information technologies to develop an open web-based integrated materials modeling and collaboration platform that acts as a one-stop shop and open marketplace, providing all the critical components that need to be linked for successful and accelerated adoption of materials modeling in the industry.
This included linking different activities and databases regarding models, information on simulation tools, communities, experience sharing, course and training materials, lectures, seminars and tutorials. The proposed MarketPlace was a central hub for all materials modeling related activities in Europe and provided concrete tools to connect different modeling, translation and manufacturing communities and provide a living web-based tool for the advancement of materials modeling in the European manufacturing industry.
The developed platform included mechanisms to integrate an interoperable set of advanced materials modeling workflows for coupling and linking different discrete (electronic, atomistic, mesoscopic) and continuum models. This was achieved by developing open and standardized post- and pre-processing methods that enable a complex flow of information from one model to another for both robustly and poorly coupled systems.
The MarketPlace platform included access to a coordinated set of federated databases for materials models and materials data. It provided access to experimental characterization and stimulated the development of interface wrappers and open simulation platforms. The MarketPlace consortium aimed to strengthen competitiveness and lower the innovation barrier for European industry for product development and process design and optimization using materials modeling.
Fraunhofer IWM subproject:
As coordinator, Fraunhofer IWM orchestrated the MarketPlace project and represented it vis-à-vis the EU. In addition to coordinating the project, Fraunhofer IWM was one of the central developers of the platform as well as important components such as the Knowledge Service. Furthermore, Fraunhofer IWM worked with partners to set up a process chain simulation across several process steps for the additive manufacturing demonstrator, using the functionality of the MarketPlace platform to ensure interoperability.
Transfer of project results to the following Fraunhofer IWM R&D services for companies:
The MarketPlace project results provide Fraunhofer IWM with a robust framework to improve its R&D services by eliminating the need for time-consuming software installations, such as simulation engines, through a web-based platform that provides instant, seamless access to key modeling tools. The platform's harmonized data and app representation enables Fraunhofer IWM to create executable workflows that streamline the development and testing of new materials, especially for demanding applications such as lightweight construction. These ready-to-use workflows enable rapid innovation by accelerating the exploration and refinement of materials concepts, giving companies a significant head start in terms of development speed and efficiency.
In addition, the MarketPlace platform supports on-site deployment options and meets the data protection requirements of companies with strict security requirements. Fraunhofer IWM can further expand this offering by licensing its own intellectual property through the platform and providing users with advanced tools and predictive capabilities. These include tools for predicting component lifetime, creating digital twins for complex components, analyzing material behavior under extreme conditions and rapidly characterizing novel materials. By breaking down barriers to these high-value applications, Fraunhofer IWM can offer its customers more flexible, accessible and secure solutions for materials modeling and innovation.