Towards a flexible and distributed simulation platform

Abstract

This work is focused on bringing forth integrated simulation as a means to understand complex processes more thoroughly. Production processes that arise in the field of engineering sciences usually require expertise and knowledge from various fields and areas to be fully understood. These processes typically range across different domains, like material science and manufacturing for instance, while they also share various technical and economic aspects. Simulation already plays an important part in conceiving such processes and its role is likely to increase in the future. As simulation technology progresses and calculations provide more accurate predictions of real phenomena, the need for more and more intuitive ways to analyze and represent the resulting information also increases. In the context of continuous process chains it is important to focus on the links between the distinct processing stages, and to demonstrate the influence and interdependencies between them. Virtual Reality (VR) provides the necessary means and technology to visualize and understand the complete process. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.