Efficiency through simulation

Further development of the GeoDict simulation software by GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG

The demands on the filtration and separation media made by GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG are as varied as their fields of application. Whether in the plastics, chemical, pharmaceutical or food-processing industry, the woven meshes of the business unit SolidWEAVE are individualised technical solutions custom-designed to increase productivity and to improve quality. To stay abreast of constantly changing demands and increasing cost pressure on the users, GKD has collaborated with the Fraunhofer Institut Techno- und Wirtschaftsmathematik (ITWM) in Kaiserslautern, one of the research institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, to further develop its GeoDict simulation software. GeoDict is an integrated simulation environment for geometric modelling and property prediction. The cooperation with GKD has extended the software to include the tool WeaveGeo. This programme helps to simulate the structure and behaviour of woven metal meshes under specific conditions, and thus to configure mesh constructions that precisely meet the demands of the customer. The use of simulation techniques replaces or at least shortens the existing standard, timeconsuming tests in which the mesh was first woven and then subjected to experiments and tests in the laboratory. "This saves us and our customers expensive development time and allows us to exactly predict the functional properties of our meshes a lot faster," Markus Knefel, Engineer at GKD's Quality Control, explains.