2009
Volume 9, Number 4, p.p. 143–148
Simulation techniques for the description of smart structures and sensorial materials
M. Lawo,1,* H. Langer,1 D. Lehmhus,2 M. Busse,2 A. Burblies3 and W. Lang4
1 Integrated Solutions in Sensorial Structure Engineering (ISIS) Scientific Centre, University of Bremen,
c/o Technologiezentrum Informatik und Informationstechnik (TZI), Am Fallturm 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
2 ISIS Scientific Centre, University of Bremen, c/o Fraunhofer IFAM, Wiener Strasse 12, 28359 Bremen, Germany
3 Fraunhofer IFAM, Wiener Strasse 12, 28359 Bremen, Germany
4 ISIS Scientific Centre, University of Bremen, c/o IMSAS, Otto-Hahn-Allee, Building NW1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Engineering science today copies nature by equipping technical structures with the analogue of a nervous system by providing a network of sensors, communication facilities linking them and specific hardware as well as computational methods to derive meaning from their combined signals. The size and density of such networks are ever increasing, up to a level in which sensor and structure may become one, forming a “sensorial material”. Basic aspects of sensor networks and the structures they monitor are accessible to current simulation techniques. On the side of decision making and communication, multiagent-based simulation (MABS) is an accepted method, as is finite element analysis (FEA) for structural behaviour. In between, the sensor’s response to an input signal like temperature or mechanical strain is the object of modelling and simulation. The present paper highlights lines of research leading to an integration of simulation techniques into one common tool for modelling and simulating biological sensing and analysing engineered structures with high levels of sensor integration. The primary focus is on joining MABS and FEA methods. The envisaged tool could support simulation of systems influenced by biological or technical sensor response and, besides, foster new insights into the behaviour of materials.
Keywords: biomaterials, finite element analysis, multiagent systems, sensorial materials, smart structures, system identification