Uncertainty in construction, production and operation
DARMSTADT. Examine uncertainty in all three phases of the product life cycle was the aim of the conference ICUME 2011. ICUME stands for ”First International Conference on Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering“. Therefore more than 50 participants from five European countries met in Darmstadt on November, 14th and 15th. The conference was organized by the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 805 – Control of Uncertainties in Load-Carrying Structures in Mechanical Engineering.
On two days in the mid of November 50 representatives from industry and sciences met in Darmstadt's science- and congress-centre Darmstadtium. In twenty talks information about new developments was presented, standards and sample applications for controlling uncertainty, especially in load-carrying structures of mechanical engineering, were introduced. The international exchange was one of the main goals. A lot of disciplines have their own ideas how to deal with uncertainty. The ICUME looked for connections between these concepts for finding a comprehensive method and technology. This one should be used over all processes and for all three phases (development, production and operation). Using this method would then avoid the uncertainty. Another idea is to adjust the system in such a way that occurring uncertainties can be controlled. “The first conference for controlling uncertainty in mechanical engineering was a complete success”, said Prof. Dr. Holger Hanselka, spokesman of the CRC 805. Different representatives from development, production and usage of products afflicted with uncertainty showed the variety of the diverse approaches for controlling uncertainty in an impressive way.
Additionally to the talks there was a poster session comprising ideas and work of the sub-projects of the CRC. The posters illustrated for example the uncertainty by shaping. Another new idea was the UMEA, (uncertainty mode and effects analysis). Furthermore some exhibits were presented, where the staff members of the CRC showed how they can control uncertainty. One of the exhibits was a tripod, which demonstrated the uncertainty of a load distribution.
Host of the conference was the Collaborative Research Centre 805, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Overall there are 30 staff members from seven different areas of mechanical engineering and mathematics working on the sub-projects. sfr
