The working group meets regularly at various venues and comprises university professors Prof. Dr Florian Nützel, Prof. Dr Thomas Schaeffer, Prof. Dr Carsten Schulz and Prof. Dr Marcus Wagner, as well as research staff and representatives from leading companies in the region. The working group was initiated by the Walter and Elfriede Niehoff Foundation, which provides financial support for research into digital twins at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at OTH Regensburg.
Philipp Stocker presented his PhD thesis on AI-supported manufacturability assessment of sheet metal components in early design phases. Jonas Preußinger then presented findings from a Master’s thesis on a configurator that can be used to automatically generate, simulate and evaluate MKS models.
Following the coffee break, Matthias Schuderer gave a presentation on the influence of friction models on the system behaviour of belt drives. Prof. Briem also provided insights into the research topic of material fatigue in copper wires. A particular highlight was the subsequent tour of the wire testing machine, during which participants were able to gain a practical understanding of the experimental investigation of material fatigue.
The session highlighted the working group’s broad thematic scope and demonstrated how AI, simulation and experimental validation can collectively contribute to the further development of digital twins in mechanical engineering.
