Current research of our institute in the area of digital twins focuses on their application for critical infrastructure protection as well as medicine and biomechanics.

 

Contacts at IMCS

 


 

Critical Infrastructure Protection

Digital twins for critical infrastructure protection

Critical infrastructures can be defined as organizations and facilities that are of existential importance to the state community and whose failure or impairment would lead to permanent supply bottlenecks, significant disturbance of public security or other dramatic consequences. They are the indispensable lifelines of modern societies and their protection is of the utmost importance both for our prosperity and for national security. In order to protect these infrastructures, we are investigating various methods from the field of scientific machine learning to create digital twins that can, e.g., act as decision support systems to provide operators of critical infrastructures with courses of action in the event of an incident. Specifically, we are working on the creation of model- and data-based digital twins for built infrastructures (such as, e.g., bridges). Moreover, we cooperate with partners from industry and science, most importantly the DLR Institute for the Protection of Terrestrial Infrastructures.

Key Publications
  • Sahin, T., von Danwitz, M., Popp, A. (2024): Solving forward and inverse problems of contact mechanics using physics-informed neural networks, Advanced Modeling and Simulation in Engineering Sciences, 11:11, DOI (Open Access) doi.png, arXiv web-logo.png
  • Jaelani, Y., Klemm, A., Wimmer, J., Seitz, F., Köhncke, M., Marsili, F., Mendler, A., von Danwitz, M., Henke, S., Gündel, M., Braml, T., Spannaus, M., Popp, A., Keßler, S. (2023): Developing a benchmark study for bridge monitoring, Steel Construction, 16:215–225, DOI (Open Access) doi.png
Current Projects

 


 

Medicine and BiomechanicsStreamlines of the fluid flow inside a patient-specific aneurysm geometry

Another important domain for the creation and application of digital twins are life sciences, e.g., medicine but also biomechanics. Here, they can be used to enhance personalized care, improve treatment outcomes, reduce costs, and enable more precise and effective procedures in health management. Specifically, we currently investigate computational methods that allow for a reliable patient-specific modeling and simulation of cutting-edge medical devices and implants, their surrounding tissue, surgical processes and entire organs (see also our page with application highlights).  The ultimate goal is to use these models to improve the treatment outcome of procedures such as stent placement by virtual testing prior to the real-life surgery.

Key Publications
  • Frank, M., Holzberger, F., Horvat, M., Kirschke, J., Mayr, M., Muhr, M., Nebulishvili, N., Popp, A., Schwarting, J., Wohlmuth, B. (2024). Numerical simulation of endovascular treatment options for cerebral aneurysms, GAMM-Mitteilungen, 47:e202370007, DOI (Open Access) doi.png
Current Projects