Multiscale modelling and design for engineering application

Utilizing 3D design procedures in manufacturing industry is well matured in industrial R&D. The shape of the components, design of the machine or the vehicle, assembly and finally the whole production are designed virtually through computational methods, which naturally offer flexibility and speed to the design phase. Simulation and virtual verification of the designed components is rapidly increasing and can further shorten R&D phase dramatically. However, virtual material values or models available for digital design and simulation are still limited. Due to the lack of digital material values the huge potential of tailoring performance cannot be fully exploited. VTT has recognized that for the economic and ecologic use of materials, digital design tools are a necessity of the digital design chain covering the whole region from material modelling to functional design. Development of new materials and understanding of material and process behaviour is always a complex equation of crossing interactions. Physical and chemical phenomena are affected from the nano- and/or molecular level up to macroscopic level. Interactions between the material performance, properties, microstructure and processing methods need to be understood more deeply. For this purpose, modelling skills have developed rapidly in recent decades both in industry and in academia, with the support of increased numerical calculation capacity and commercial multi-level and multi-physics software development. In this publication we are presenting some highlights from our current modelling activities obtained within VTT's MultiDesign innovation programme. We hope they will inspire new ideas on what could be done and obtained via digital approach to design