PORTEFEUILLE

Imagine being able to save up to 10% in resources, complemented by as much in operational costs in a multibillion dollar market. With CoatSim we aim to make this potential a reality for the surface treatment industry, by combining a totally unique numerical simulation software with optimization algorithms and by embedding it into a cloud computing platform to take advantage of cutting-edge Massive Simultaneous Cloud Computing (MSCC) capabilities. We will thus provide the industry with the necessary means to revolutionize their process design procedures, which currently rely mainly on costly trial and error methods, thus enabling further cost savings. However the main benefit of the coatSim software will appear in the form of reduction of scrapped parts and the amount of coating material utilized during the whole manufacturing process, also reducing the environmental footprint of our customers.

CoatSim has at its core a simulation software that can replicate any surface treatment process one-to-one in the form of its digital twin. This means that not only are geometric details and the exact motion of moving parts such as a coating pistol preserved, but the interaction of the coating and the carrier medium (e.g. air flow), as well as other process relevant forces (e.g. electrostatic for powder coating) and the substrate to be coated are considered as well. This in itself makes the solver the only one, tailored specifically for surface treatment processes in all its details. As of now the core of this break-through technology has been thoroughly validated, yielding results of a predictive quality unmatched by any other software package. It has taken more than ten man-years of intense development effort in close cooperation with industrial application partners to reach today's state. However, we will yet go one step further with this unique solver, and combine it with the latest advancements in computational science. Namely we will take advantage of the computational power of novel cloud computing technology in order to perform process optimization by completing hundreds of predictive simulation runs. While this will be a complex process requiring the implementation of an optimization algorithm to comply with MSCC Massive Simultaneous Cloud Computing in the background, it is envisioned to be as easy as a drag and drop operation on the user end. Hence we expect our state of the art simulation-based approach to replace the customary trial and error methods, making coatSim the standard software of choice for the surface treatment industry.

A fully functional version of the software, containing all the key elements, is ready for marketing to the early adopters. The software incorporates all the necessary functionality for the user to construct the geometry, define the coating material and process parameters, generate the mesh and prepare the case with minimum effort, and intuitive input. It can additionally generate hundreds of cases with parameter variations with the push of a button. Its computational performance has also been enhanced using an innovative methodology developed to meet the cost efficiency demands of the industry. The software is seamlessly interfaced with cloud computing facilities to perform multitudes of simulations simultaneously. We are currently in collaboration with a major powder coating equipment manufacturer to try out the software and potentially invest in the founding of a start-up.

Siyahhan, Bercan; Boiger, Gernot Kurt; Fallah, Arash Soleiman; Khawaja, Hassan; Moatamedi, Moji, 2023. Multiphysics simulation of particle-surface interaction and its effect on powder patterns and process optimization. The International Journal of Multiphysics. 17(1), pp. 77-90. Available here;
B Siyahhan, G Boiger, AS Fallah, H Khawaja, M Moatamedi; A Semi Transient Methodology for Dual Time Stepping of Particle and Flow Field Simulations of an Eulerian-Lagrangian Multiphysics Solver. In: Multiphysics 2023. International Conference of Multiphysics, Graz, Austria, 14-15 December 2023. International Society of Multiphysics. pp. 40.

«Für eine optimale Beschichtung», ZHAW Impact, Seite 15, März 2021