LifeTool

The project aims at the development of an efficient experimental procedure and an auxiliary add-on for FE-simulation, which enables the lifetime prediction of components made of organo sheets.

Organo sheets are increasingly being used in the transportation sector due to their lightweight construction potential and good processability. The lightweight construction potential results from the high specific strength and stiffness. By thermoforming, many of the classic components made of metal sheets can be substituted by organo sheets. The successful use of the components is preceded by their design. This must also take into account the cyclic loads that typically occur in vehicles.

The design under cyclic loads requires a comprehensive understanding of materials on the basis of a broad experimental investigation. This requires the recording of load- and direction-dependent service life as well as the degradation behavior of the component. The consideration of the material degradation enables the evaluation of the functionality of the component over the lifetime as well as the evaluation of load redistributions. The project investigates how a functional extension (LifeTool) of the static FE calculation can be efficiently parameterized with material parameters by a suitable choice of experimental test parameters.

• TECOSIM Technische Simulation GmbH