Insights in the Fraunhofer IWS Annual Report 2021/2022

“DiWan“: Virtual materials expert

News – Fraunhofer IWS Dresden /

Together with partners from research and industry, Fraunhofer IWS contibutes to designing the “Digital Transformation in Materials Testing“ (project DiWan). This will result in a virtual expert system supporting materials testers in their work in the future. DiWan combines the latest findings from scientific papers and the standards in materials testing with practical expert knowledge. The digital assistant will provide this accumulated expertise to its human colleagues – thus taking work in materials testing and metallography laboratories to a new level.

Under the lead of Fraunhofer IWS, partners from research and industry are developing an electronic lab book, a knowledge database and a digital lab management to digitalize material testing processes.
© ronaldbonss.com
Under the lead of Fraunhofer IWS, partners from research and industry are developing an electronic lab book, a knowledge database and a digital lab management to digitalize material testing processes.
The virtual expert system is designed to support materials testers in their work.
© ronaldbonss.com
The virtual expert system is designed to support materials testers in their work.

A lab book for eternity

Under the lead of Fraunhofer IWS, the research partners are developing and integrating an electronic lab book, a knowledge database and a digital lab management into the new system. Finally, the virtual materials expert will be created based on these components. For example, it includes data on fatigue strength and hardness or on corrosion behavior and processability of materials. It will provide all the information that a person would otherwise have to research extensively. In addition, empirical know-how about the preparation and testing methods used in the laboratories is incorporated.

No more data loss, thanks to digitization

The ontology of materials science plays a central role: a conceptual network that goes beyond a mere provision of individual data by additionally describing linkages between them. Looking ahead, such digital expert systems can improve the quality and speed of materials investigations. It can also be expected that DiWan will link previously scattered sources of knowledge that would be very time-consuming for individuals to establish. Last but not least, the virtual expert supports sustainable knowledge concepts in business and science. Even if experienced employees move to another employer, their expertise will not be lost in the future thanks to DiWan.

Video: Project Diwan – Digital transformation in materials testing

The Fraunhofer IWS has been a leading researcher in the field of materials characterization and testing for decades. Together with research and industry partners, the institute is currently driving digitalization in materials science in the DIWAN project ("Digital transformation in materials testing ").

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Funding notice

The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag and with financial support from the European Social Fund (ESF) under the grand number 02L18B560.