SIMPOSIUM · Simulation Platform for Non Destructive Evaluation of Structures and Materials

In all industrial sectors, Non Destructive Evaluation techniques play a critical role for ensuring structures reliability, plant safety and increasingly also for ensuring quality and efficiency of products and processes. The emerging use of numerical simulation is a major trend in the field with tremendous potential benefits in terms of costs reduction, enhanced diagnosis reliability and consequently increased competitiveness. Today strong industrial needs exist for efficient NDE simulation tools which SIMPOSIUM aims at fulfilling. The project objective is to provide in a single software platform numerical models specifically designed to respond to manufacturers applications. The project will address both flaw detection and material characterization methods. Particular effort will be put on challenging modelling of material features, complex geometries of parts and complex defects. The models will be i) based on multi-scale and multi-physics approach, ii) capable to exchange data with CAD design software, mechanical codes, material models. Emphasis will be put on efficient coupling strategies based on hybrid semi-analytical / numerical approaches. Such strategies will be made possible by the development of software platform tools allowing communication between codes developed by different partners. Particular attention will be paid to the validation of the models codes challenging modelling of material features, complex geometries of parts and defects. SIMPOSIUM, will have significant impacts at the different stages of NDE practice: Design and implementation of emerging NDE techniques, reliability assessment and performance demonstration, training of NDE staff. By reducing the cost linked to inspections, making possible virtual testing at the earliest stages of the part design, SIMPOSIUM will significantly contribute to improve time-to-production, time-to-market and competitiveness. Last it will confirm the leading position of Europe in the field of NDE simulation.