E-Xstream engineering (www.e-xstream.com) is a UCL spin-off which came into being on 20 May 2003 as the result of a meeting between two men who have realised their dream: Issam Doghri, a professor at UCL since 1994, with many years’ experience in the domain of modelling and the digital simulation of nonlinear materials, and Roger Assaker, Doctor in Applied Sciences from UCL, the holder of an MBA who was a researcher at Goodyear Luxembourg for five years. Ever since its creation, the company has achieved constant growth of around 50 to 60% in its annual turnover, reaching the profitability threshold in 2007.

Modelling of composite materials : innovatice DIGIMAT technology sets out to conquer Europe

The software platform DIGIMAT is positioned as the benchmark tool for manufacturers and research scientists, allowing them to design innovative, high performance composite materials more quickly and at lower cost by means of a precise and reliable digital approach. 

This platform for the modelling of composite materials developed by e-Xstream engineering offers cutting edge technology to materials suppliers, the car and aerospace industries, manufacturers of consumer goods and equipment etc., in response to the constant need for innovations and cost reductions.

DIGIMAT’s multi-scale simulations make it possible to predict the physical behaviour of a composite material digitally from the properties of its constituents and the morphology of its microstructure. This is important, as the advantages of using composite materials in industry are well known:

- reduction in the weight of parts;

- reduction in the consumption of natural and energy resources;

- reduction in CO2 emissions.

First DIGIMAT Users’ Meeting

The first DIGIMAT users’ conference took place in La Hulpe, Brussels, at the end of November 2008. The three-day meeting, held from 25 to 27 November, was attended by over 70 doctors, engineers and research scientists from major European companies and universities such as Nokia, Solvay and Imperial College London, all active in the micromechanical modelling of composite materials and their industrial applications.

1. The agenda included presentations by users and partners and by e-Xstream.
2. The Belgian company Solvay Advanced Polymers gave a presentation on DIGIMAT modelling techniques for glass-fibre-reinforced elasto-plastic materials. 
3. The Belgian aeronautical research centre, Cenaero, also presented its results from the analysis and optimisation of carbon fibre aircraft engine components.
4. The participants shared the different approaches to modelling composite materials in DIGIMAT, comparing and analysing their results. They were also able to attend a day’s training in the software and to express their needs with a view to future implementations.

Following the success of this first Users’ Meeting in Europe, e-Xstream is planning a similar event in Detroit (MI), the US automobile capital, and Akron (OH) next March. The second European Users’ Meeting, at which the latest industrial applications and version 4.0 of DIGIMAT will be presented, is also in preparation for the end of 2009.