The Methods & Tools programme provides a synthesis of the research carried out to facilitate industrial implementation. It consists of three main parts: further development of the SIMLab Toolbox, development of guidelines for best practice, and training and education of students and engineers.

The SIMLab Toolbox is further developed by enhancing the prediction accuracy, efficiency and robustness of existing models and methods. The appropriate tools at different scales have to be developed in order to assist the research in the other CASA programmes. In particular, the SIMLab Toolbox supports the necessary steps to build a reliable finite element model for advanced structural analysis, including:

• a database solution to store and get access to experimental data and protocols;
• a field measurement software to extract accurate data from tests;
• a multi-scale calibration toolbox to identify the parameters of the proposed models;
• a model library with constitutive models for the different materials used by the partners;
• a set of multi-scale solvers used to develop and improve existing models.

The SIMLab Toolbox is linked to the finite element codes used by the partners through an interface. Industrial methods are established for verification and validation of the developed experimental and numerical methods at different scales.

Recommended practice are developed for the use of advanced computational methods (e.g. non-linear finite element methods) to determine the characteristic resistance of structures. In large-scale numerical simulations, the predicted behaviour of the structure - and thus the structural resistance - is a function of several factors, such as the behaviour and modelling of the material at different temperatures and loading rates, the modelling of joints, the spatial discretization of the structure, and the modelling of boundary conditions and loads. Another issue here is the representation of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in the numerical simulations. The modelling of the structure has to robustly capture the potential failure modes of the members, the joints and the structural assembly. Modelling guidelines are developed for cases where there is no overlap between the validation domain and the application domain. The recommended practice activity is based on the relevant design codes for steel, aluminium and offshore structures, i.e. EC3¹, EC9² and NORSOK³, respectively.

The programme also provides training of master’s students in addition to engineers and scientists at the user partners. The training of master’s students is achieved through advanced courses and thesis work closely connected to the research activities in CASA. The training of engineers and scientists at the user partners is achieved by targeted training courses and workshops.

¹ Eurocode 3 (EC3)-Design of Steel Structures.

² Eurocode 9 (EC9)-Design of Aluminium Structures.

³ NORSOK-Design of Offshore Structures.