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The core interest of the Process Systems Engineering group, associated with the Chemical Engineering Department of NTNU, is models based on the argument that they are omnipresent in model-based engineering. Both research and teaching build around models:

The main activity is in constructing computer-aided modelling tools that enable a process of systematically constructing, manipulating, expanding and simplifying process models. The realisation is a hierarchical ontology-based software suite that supports

• graphical construction and editing of process models
• library of process component models
• generation of documentation and code for different target environments, both for commercial and open-source programs

As a side product, event-driven control of interactive software evolved over time, which is largely being used in the design of the software tools in computer-aided modelling.

VIPCOAT Horizon2020 Project: 

About the project

The goal of the EU-funded VIPCOAT project is to create an open innovation platform that should assist engineers in developing coating materials and constructing accelerated life test scenarios to assess their durability. Initially, the platform will target the aeronautic industry. However, it will later host interoperable applications based on standardized ontologies as extensions of the European Materials Modelling Ontology that should enable to transfer methods and insights to other industries. The VIPCOAT platform will open the door to new production concepts with reduced process steps, lower energy consumption and reduced use of natural resources. Supporting modelling, the platform should also promote the development of green, cheap and efficient coatings that inhibit corrosion.

Aim:

The aim is to create an open innovation platform that can be used by the research, industrial, political and public sectors alike. The approach facilitates an effective transfer of science and communication between all those involved. The platform is to serve as a database (for experimental, industry-relevant and modelling data), scientific infrastructure and simulation tool at the same time. Machine learning and physics-based modelling are combined here to optimize industry-relevant active protective coating development processes. VIPCOAT is designed to support the industry in making the development of customised, innovative corrosion protection technologies not only faster and more economical but mainly to make them more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The MarketPlace consortium will utilise state-of-the-art information technologies to build an open web-based integrated Materials Modelling and Collaboration platform that acts as a one-stop-shop and open Marketplace for providing all determining components that need to be interwoven for successful and accelerated deployment of materials modelling in industry. This includes linking various activities and databases on models, information on simulation tools, communities, expertise exchange, course and training materials, lectures, seminars and tutorials. The proposed MarketPlace will be a central hub for all materials modelling-related activities in Europe and provide tangible tools to connect disparate modelling, translators, and manufacturing communities to provide a vibrant collaboration web-based tool for the advancement of materials modelling in the European manufacturing industry. The developed platform will include mechanisms for integrating an interoperable set of advanced materials model workflows for coupling and linking various discrete (electronic, atomistic,
mesoscopic) and continuum models. This will be achieved by developing open and standard post and pre-processing methods that allow the complex flow of information from one model to another for both strongly and loosely coupled systems. The Marketplace platform will include access to a concerted set of federated databases of materials models materials data and, provide for access to experimental characterisation and stimulate the development of interface wrappers and open simulation platforms. The MarketPlace consortium aims to strengthen competitiveness and lower the innovation barrier for the European industry for product development and process design and optimization using materials modelling.

EC Framework 7 Project MoDeNa (3 years project completed 2017)   :

MoDeNa aims at developing, demonstrating and assessing an easy-to-use multi-scale software-modelling framework application under an open-source licensing scheme that delivers models with feasible computational loads for process and product design of complex materials. The use of the software will lead to novel research and development avenues that fundamentally improve the properties of these nanomaterials. As an application case, we consider polyurethane foams (PU), which is an excellent example of a large turnover product produced in a variety of qualities and of which the properties are the result of designing and controlling the material structure on all levels of scale, from the molecule to the final product. Polyurethanes are used in furniture, automotive, coatings, construction, thermal insulation and footwear, which are the most important industry sectors. Tailoring these properties requires understanding and detailed modelling of the fundamental material behaviour on all scales. An open-source software suite will be constructed that logically interlinks the scale and problem-specific software of our university groups, using a software orchestrator that communicates information utilizing our proposed new communication standard in both directions, namely upwards to the higher scale and downwards to the lower scale. This feature is unique, enabling the solution of complex material design problems. By that, this project contributes to strengthening the European leadership in the design and production of nanocomposite materials with functional properties in general. It will also contribute to strengthening European SME positions in the development of computationally intensive simulation software. Finally, it will contribute to making production processes more efficient by combining scale-specific software tools, thereby decreasing the time-to-market. This will enable the exploration of many more alternatives, eventually leading to improved products and processes.

Hybrid Systems — mixed discrete/continuous systems

The main subjects that were covered over time include:

• discrete-event dynamic models of continuous plants observed by a quantising measurement unit and an event-driven input
• fault detection and identification
• hazop analysis