Multiphysics

The core of the software offering in the Multiphysics business area is the MpCCI licensed software, which has been available for over 20 years and is used as a manufacturer-neutral interface for combining commercial and academic simulation tools. The new MpCCI SIMS solution for managing technical data in product and process development is currently under development.

• The MpCCI CouplingEnvironment enables the co-simulation of tools in computer-aided engineering (CAE) in order to analyse fluid-structure interactions or heat and radiation coupling, for example, as well as for the thermal management of electric motors. It offers an application-oriented coupling definition and a configuration supported by artificial intelligence (AI) for efficient and robust fluid-structure interaction (FSI) calculation.
• The MpCCI FSIMapper tool allows for different export formats of software for computational fluid dynamics simulations and for input decks of Abaqus, Ansys and Nastran a data transfer between the non-compatible computational grids. Physical variables such as film temperature, wall heat transfer coefficient, wall heat flux, standard and complex pressure and force densities can be transferred.
• The MpCCI Mapper is a special solution for integrated virtual production chains. It enables the geometric correspondence of two models to be checked; the (automatic) mesh alignment helps to align the positions of two models with each other. Robust mapping algorithms enable the transfer of different physical quantities for all common shell elements and types.
• The MpCCI Semantic Information Management System (SIMS) provides a unified environment for managing complex technical and engineering data. It converts heterogeneous data sets into a semantic knowledge graph, enabling intelligent queries, conclusions and decision-making. Thanks to its modular architecture, each level of SIMS can operate independently while still communicating seamlessly via REST APIs or shared databases. This flexibility enables project teams to ensure interoperability across different domains.

VMAP – A standard for simulation and measurement
Fraunhofer SCAI coordinates the activities of the VMAP Standards Community e.V. The VMAP data standard enables the storage of results data from simulation calculations, measurement data from physical experiments and also the storage of monitoring data from production machines. This standardization of data storage allows simulation engineers to directly access data from the virtual and physical worlds and use it to improve their calculation models.

The Multiphysics business area has initiated many of the following industrial and third party funded R&D projects. All of these R&D activities are driven by concrete demands from customers and industry communities. Within these projects, existing MpCCI solutions are applied to challenging engineering applications, new methods and tools are developed, and standardization activities are supported:

MapUmCra
In vehicle development, accurately predicting crash behavior poses a major challenge, as the forming process of lightweight sheet metal components can lead to local material damage in areas of high internal stress, which has so far been insufficiently accounted for. The research project MapUmCra develops new methods to realistically and efficiently transfer such damage from forming simulations to crash simulations. This creates a continuous digital process chain from sheet metal forming to crash testing, enabling more accurate predictions of structural behavior, simplifying material modeling, and significantly reducing development times.
Read more

GEAR-UP
The integration of recycled materials continues to pose challenges for the manufacturing industry, as the quality of the products depends on the interaction between the materials used and the manufacturing processes. Variations in trace elements and chemical properties affect additive manufacturing processes such as 3D printing. The GEAR-UP project aims to develop digital tools to facilitate the use of recycled materials in metal and plastics processing. Simulation-based approaches and AI methods will be used to establish resource-efficient manufacturing processes. The digital product passport developed in the project ensures the traceability of materials.
Read more

SmartEM
The SmartEM project develops a standardized system that allows to combine different computational engineering models from different sources and to merge them into a complete system. This flexible reference architecture, inspired by open data space concepts such as Gaia-X, promotes collaboration between different actors and enables the reuse of engineering models. This makes development processes more efficient and replaces manual, time-consuming procedures for creating digital twins. The AI-based generation of "surrogate models" - simplified versions of complex models from heterogeneous data sources - facilitates model integration and thus improves interoperability. In this way, SmartEM accelerates digital transformation and innovation in engineering.
Read more

BASE
The BASE project aims to develop the digital battery passport, which every larger battery will be required to have in the future. The passport will contain continuously collected data on the "State of Health" as well as information on the supply chain, the manufacturing process and material data. It will apply the "mass balance" method, which offers a detailed accounting of the materials used in battery production, with special emphasis on the use of sustainable components. The data from the battery passport is stored in a decentralized and tamper-proof manner so that all parties involved have access to it. This enables the optimization of battery lifespan and enhances recycling.
Read more

ALABAMA
The ALABAMA project is developing adaptive laser techniques for improved additive manufacturing. The goal is to decrease material porosity and adjust microstructures. The innovation includes the development of models for process optimization. Process parameters are optimized using multi-beam control and laser shaping. Advanced monitoring uses multispectral imaging for quality control. Material tests ensure compliance with requirements. The technology is being tested in aerospace, maritime, and automotive industries. These sectors face challenges regarding material quality. The project promises significant productivity increases and cost reductions. It also promotes the autonomy of the European industry.
Read more

RESTORE
Remanufacturing boosts circular economies and job creation. RESTORE enhances this with sustainable processes and materials. It merges advanced technologies for better remanufacturing applications. The RESTORE platform will digitize and streamline the remanufacturing process. Fraunhofer SCAI standardizes data for remanufacturing efficiency.
Read more

PIONEER
PIONEER aims to develop and implement an interoperable material modeling and manufacturing ecosystem that enables multidirectional data flow along the material value chain by linking product design and distributed modeling data with information from material characterization, manufacturing processes, and product quality criteria. PIONEER combines a design-by-simulation approach with manufacturing and quality data to optimize product development strategies in high-mix/low-volume production systems.
Read more

DigitalTwin-4-Multiphysics-Lab
The joint DigitalTwin-4-Multiphysics-Lab laboratory (Fraunhofer SCAI, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Dr. Reinold Hagen Foundation) aims to create a new Digital Twin concept for SMEs.
Read more

VMAP analytics
The vision of ITEA project VMAP analytics is to enable the realization of smart Digital Twins for materials and manufacturing design tasks.
Read more

Fraunhofer HABICHT
The Fraunhofer project HABICHT aims to develop a highly efficient electric motor for compressors in hydrogen fuel cells.
Read more

BonoKeram
BMWi-funded project BonoKeram aims to increase the flexibility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of small gas turbines by providing components made from monolithic advanced ceramics.
Read more

NanoINHAL
The BMBF-funded project NanoINHAL aims to develop an innovative testing system for investigating the toxic effects of airborne nanomaterials.
Read more

Fraunhofer DigitalTPC
The Fraunhofer project DigitalTPC aims at the holistic consideration of all sub-process steps, partly taking place at different locations, from the semi-finished product to the component production.
Read more

UmLac
The AiF-funded project UmLac deals with material models and characteristic value determination for the industrial application of forming and crash simulation.
Read more

VMAP
The goal of the ITEA project VMAP was to create the first open vendor-neutral standard for computer-aided engineering data storage, thereby enhancing the interoperability of software tools and reducing costs and effort for companies.
Read more

Project MapUmCra has started
October 2025, Sankt Augustin (Germany) – In vehicle development, accurately predicting crash behavior poses a major challenge, as the forming process of lightweight sheet metal components can lead to local material damage in areas of high internal stress, which has so far been insufficiently accounted for. The research project MapUmCra develops new methods to realistically and efficiently transfer such damage from forming simulations to crash simulations. At the kick-off workshop at Schloss Birlinghoven, the project teams met with experts from the automotive industry.
Read more

Project RESTORE – Successful Review
September 25, 2025 – the RESTORE consortium came together in Brussels for the official EC Review Meeting. Hosted at Philanthropy House in Brussels, the agenda was full and engaging:

• Project overview – achievements, milestones, and scientific objectives
• In-depth presentations from each Work Package (WP1–WP8) covering requirement analysis, sustainable cladding materials, digital tools, the remanufacturing platform, business model innovation, dissemination, and management
• Constructive discussions with reviewers and partners on results, challenges, and the path forward

Read more

Coupled Simulation of Vehicle Suspension Systems – A successful Master's Thesis
July 2025, Sankt Augustin (Germany) – Driving dynamics simulations, such as those used in Formula racing or vehicle development, place high demands on numerical modeling: the deformation of individual components directly influences the movement behavior of the entire chassis.
Read more

New VMAP Working Group on Additive Manufacturing
June 2025 – Following the productive discussions at the VMAP User Forum 2025 in February, a clear consensus emerged: the additive manufacturing industry urgently needs standardized data formats. In response to this demand, the VMAP SC has established a dedicated Additive Manufacturing Working Group to develop comprehensive standards for AM processes.
Read more

Project SmartEM – Successful Review
March 13, 2025 – Computational engineering models have enhanced design and analysis processes but remain difficult to reuse, exchange, and integrate into larger systems. The SmartEM project addresses these challenges by developing a reference architecture for engineering model spaces, enabling better collaboration, reducing costly design corrections, and promoting early data and model exchanges. By shifting from data spaces to model spaces, SmartEM paves the way for a broader data and model economy in manufacturing, ultimately helping end-users reduce development times.
Read more 

VMAP User Meeting 2025
February 2025, Sankt Augustin (Germany) – On February 18 and 19, 2025, leading figures from research and industry met at Birlinghoven Castle for the annual User Forum of the VMAP Standards Community. The aim of the event was to further develop the open VMAP standard for virtual material modeling and set the course for efficient, interoperable, and digital manufacturing.
Read more, VMAP User Forum 2025

NAFEMS VMAP Webinar – How to use and implement VMAP in your own code
December 17, 2024, Online (via NAFEMS) – VMAP is a vendor-neutral standard for CAx data storage to improve interoperability in virtual and physical engineering workflows. The VMAP standard can be used to transfer data between simulation codes and to store data from physical experiments or machine monitoring, thus closing the gap by creating the world's first CAx workflow interface standard. In this webinar, Fraunhofer SCAI will provide an initial overview of the standard's technical capabilities and how it can be connected to your own software solutions.
Read more

Project GEAR-UP has been started
October 20 to 21, 2024, Trondheim (Norway) – The integration of recycled materials continues to pose challenges for the manufacturing industry, as the quality of the products depends on the interaction between the materials used and the manufacturing processes. Variations in trace elements and chemical properties affect additive manufacturing processes such as 3D printing. The GEAR-UP project aims to develop digital tools to facilitate the use of recycled materials in metal and plastics processing. At the kick-off meeting in Trondheim, 12 international project partners met at SINTEF Manufacturing AS and Aker Solutions Hydropower AS to discuss technical details and the further elaboration of use cases.
Read more

VMAP 1.2 Release
August 29, 2024, Sankt Augustin (Germany) – With the new version v1.2 of the VMAP standard, data from real measurements and production monitoring can now also be stored in a structured way and made available for further simulation tasks.
Read more

Project BASE has been started
July 30 to 31, 2024, Berlin (Germany) – The BASE project aims to develop the digital battery passport, which every larger battery will be required to have in the future. The passport will contain continuously collected data on the "State of Health" as well as information on the supply chain, the manufacturing process and material data. At the kick-off meeting in Berlin, 19 international project partners met for an initial exchange of ideas and planning.
Read more

ITEA project SmartEM has been started
April 2024, Eindhoven (Netherlands) – SmartEM aims to overcome the limitations of current engineering models by developing a reference architecture for engineering model spaces. The architecture will enable the reuse, exchange and integration of engineering computational models. SmartEM will use AI-powered methods to create surrogate models from heterogeneous data sources and enable their recombination within a given technical domain. Partners in this project are Philips Electronics NL, Canon Production Printing, Thermo-Fisher, Siemens Software, KU leuven, TU Eindhoven, Reden, SemLab, TNO, ACD, Alpata, Inovasyon Mühendislik and Fraunhofer SCAI.
Read more

ITEA project VMAP analytics had its final review
April 2024, Stockholm (Sweden) – The final review of the VMAP Analytics project took place on 9 April 2024 in an online/hybrid format. It was hosted by the project leader, Swerim AB from Sweden. Ovako, Gränges, Prevas, Morgårdshammar, Gemit from Sweden and Fraunhofer SCAI from Germany also participated. JF. Lavignon and E. Roddenbach from the ITEA office, S. Liljeblad, an ITAC representative, external reviewers from Software AG (GER) and Bittium (FIN) and the project mentor R. Ionescu from NXP (ROM) were also involved in the review.
Read more

EU-project ALABAMA has been started
February 2024, Trondheim (Norway) – The EU project ALABAMA (Adaptive Laser Beam Control for Additive Manufacturing) had its kick-off event at the coordinator SINTEF Manufacturing. The partners Aerobase Innovations AB, Fraunhofer IWS, Fraunhofer SCAI, Eurecat – Centro Tecnológico, Luleå tekniska universitet, IRIS srl, flowphys as, Stellantis/CRF, Nordic Additive Manufacturing AS, GKN Aerospace Sweden AB, and Technovative Solutions LTD (TVS) presented their plans and contributions.
Read more

First VMAP User Meeting
February 2024, Schloss Birlinghoven (Germany) – The VMAP Standards Community (VMAP SC) held its first user forum at Schloss Birlinghoven. Over 20 contributions from software partners, from ongoing R&D projects and the VMAP working groups provided a detailed insight into the ongoing VMAP standardization activities.
Read more

EU-project RESTORE has been started
January 2024, Lisbon (Portugal) – The EU project RESTORE (sustainable remanufacturing solution with an increased degree of automation and recycling content in the laser and plasma-based process) had its kick-off meeting at partner EWF in Lisbon. Application partners from the automotive, shipping, railway and aviation sectors presented their requirements - initial concepts from the software partners were discussed.
Read more