WG Digital Engineering

The Digital Engineering working group at the Institute of Design Engineering at TU Braunschweig is researching the design process for lightweight construction and circular economy in large-scale automotive production, with a focus on calculation and development methods. The Wolfsburg location offers ideal conditions for this with the Open Hybrid LabFactory (OHLF) research campus.

• Calculation methods – simulation & optimization:
  In order to make the product development process efficient and sustainable, and to promote new and innovative solutions, the working group's research focuses on the application, implementation, and development of CAx methods in the context of lightweight construction and the circular economy. A key component of this is numerical optimization, which uses simulation and modeling tools to determine optimal solutions. In addition to fundamental target variables such as weight or cost, compliance with technical constraints is also taken into account in this context.

• Development methods – design & construction:
  The use of innovative construction methods is a crucial factor in the development process for future lightweight components. In the field of development methods, the potential of new construction methods is analyzed and methodological approaches are developed in order to establish new ways of thinking in product development for innovative solutions. In this context, research focuses on the development of new construction methods with a high degree of functional integration and maximum weight reduction, taking into account the constraints of industrial implementation.

• TechnoHyb: Process and tool technologies for functionally integrated hybrid construction methods
• LehoMit-Hybrid: Lightweight, high-performance center tunnel for a car body in hybrid metal and fiber-reinforced plastic construction
• DFG IML: Model-based component design and process planning for the manufacture of multi-material components through incremental manufacturing
• DigiPro²Green: Digital methods for product development and circular production of sustainable lightweight structures
• ZEvRA: Zero Emission electric Vehicles enabled by haRmonized circulArity

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All members of the working group can be found at the following  Link.