Modelling and Simulation
Description / Outline
The Numerical Simulation research group focuses on fundamental and application-oriented research in additive manufacturing, with a particular emphasis on Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-EB). The group’s work makes a visible international contribution to the advancement of this technology and is positioned among the leading research efforts worldwide in this field. Central to the research is the development of physically sound simulation approaches that enable a deep understanding of the highly dynamic phenomena occurring during the manufacturing process and open new pathways for targeted process and materials design.
Purely experimental approaches in additive manufacturing quickly encounter fundamental limitations. Key process quantities such as local temperature fields, highly time-resolved thermal cycles, or solidification conditions are only accessible to a limited extent or not directly measurable at all. At the same time, systematic experimental parameter studies are often associated with considerable effort and cost. Against this background, numerical simulation constitutes the primary scientific instrument of the research group, providing access to critical process mechanisms with high spatial and temporal resolution.
The group develops and extends proprietary simulation models and methodological tools that go beyond established standard approaches and actively contribute to the advancement of simulation technology in additive manufacturing. These models enable the quantitative prediction of thermal fields, process dynamics, and microstructural evolution as a function of beam guidance, scan strategy, component geometry, and material properties. In this way, complex interactions within the PBF-EB process become systematically accessible, allowing novel process strategies to be designed and evaluated virtually prior to experimental implementation.
A core principle of the research is the tight coupling of simulation and experiment. Experimental observations are used to validate and parameterize the numerical models, while simulation-based insights directly inform new experimental questions, measurement concepts, and process variants. This reciprocal interaction enables highly targeted experimental investigations and significantly accelerates the generation of scientific insight beyond purely empirical approaches.
Furthermore, numerical simulation provides a key link to alloy development. Detailed analyses of temperature–time histories, cooling rates, and thermal cycling yield essential information on solidification conditions and microstructural evolution. On this basis, alloys can be specifically adapted to the boundary conditions of additive manufacturing processes, and new, material-specific process windows can be established. In this way, the research group contributes not only to process development but also to the materials-driven advancement of additive manufacturing technologies.
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