For the fifth time, the CAE Forum will complement Digital Factory. Emerging from numerical simulation, this group pavilion in Hall 6 (Stand L46) now also deals with additive manufacturing and 3D visualization. "We're expanding the current view of technology in the future of businesses," explains Dirk Pieper, consultant engineer and initiator of the CAE Forum.

Pieper describes the performance fair as "the initial nucleus for industrial applications." In April the ESI Group, GrantaDesign Limited, Haption GmbH, the brand new startup advaNS, and the Hamburg University of Applied Science can be found here.

Over 60 presentations and panel discussions await visitors at the CAE Forum stage. Experts from business and scientific institutions will demonstrate their expertise in the following areas:

Exhibitors and products

The ESI Group, leading innovator of virtual prototyping software and services, helps customers replace physical prototypes, and reliably test performance, serviceability, and ease of maintenance virtually in various environmental and operational conditions. The portfolio includes Virtual Performance, a tool to virtually test, analyze, and improve the behavior of models. ESI IC.IDO is a high-capacity virtual reality software that connects high-end visualization and real time product behavior simulations. With Virtual Manufacturing, ESI enables engineers to solve problems using virtual simulation before the entire processes are developed. Engineering Data Analytics focuses on high-dimensional data sets and key variables to be analyzed with the latest data analytics approaches and intuitive visualization.

Thanks to its materials expertise, GrantaDesign provides comprehensive solutions for materials information technology. The company supports engineers and development teams when applying material intelligence to save money, reduce risks, and increase product performance. In Hannover, the company is presenting its software module GRANTA MI, among other things. With its Additive Manufacturing Package, information related to powders, manufacturing processes, machine parameters, and parts can be managed, visualized, and processed.

Haption provides hardware and software solutions based on haptics and force-feedback. Especially for immersive techniques, haptic interfaces provide a further dimension by expanding events in the visual/virtual space. This allows developers to use "first user experience" to manipulate virtual prototypes and/or digital twins and draw new conclusions for product developments from the results.

Innovative solutions for interactive computational fluid dynamics comes from advaNS: With the aid of combined hard- and software solutions, CFD simulations can by carried out interactively at the workstation – without accessing the cloud or resources in data centers. Processing power is made available by using graphic boards, allowing CFD results to be taken into account early on in the design process.

The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) is showcasing its simulation and additive manufacturing projects from the departments of Automotive & Aeronautical Engineering, Information & Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering & Production. Appearing for the first time at the CAE Forum, The HAW is presenting, among other things, an AF operational asymmetrical crank mechanism simulated with CAE software as a working model. The university is also showcasing a project to simulate PTFE shaft seals.