AVL preps VALID partners for wave hybrid testing platform

Independent company for development, simulation and testing AVL has conducted an initial training session with project partners for the instrument that will help develop the VALID wave energy hybrid testing platform.

AVL, a member of the consortium of the EU-funded VALID project, has been a front-runner in hybrid testing during the last decade with the help of their Integrated and Open Development Platform (IODP).

The IODP offers the capacity to integrate the physical and the virtual world whilst being open to users’ diverse landscape of methods and tools.

As part of VALID’s work package tasked with development of the VALID Hybrid Testing Platform (VHTP), a training session was organised online by AVL for the instrument that will facilitate the development of such platform.

The aim of the three-year VALID project is to develop and validate a new test rig platform and procedures for accelerated hybrid testing that can be used across the wave energy sector.

The VHTP will provide the interface that allows for seamless accelerated hybrid testing.

According to the VALID project, the IODP software simplifies the deployment of hybrid testing by acting as a unique interface to the different development process tasks and teams.

As a part of AVL’s IODP portfolio, the software tool Model.CONNECT provides an integration middleware to put all the models from different authoring tools together, ensure smooth synchronization and co-simulation, and prepare them to run in the testbed environment.

During the session, a basic introduction of the tool was held by the Model.CONNECT support and application team.

The training was mainly targeted to leading partners in the three VALID user cases concerned with testing of failures of dynamic sealing, electric generators, and hydraulic pumps.

Nine representatives from six consortium partners took part in this session, with Dejan Ciglar from AVL presenting the main features of Model.CONNECT.

Partners have been granted a 30-day training license of the tool to practice the concepts explained.

Upon signature of a license agreement, free access to the platform and support will be provided by AVL during the project lifetime, according to VALID project.

Aside from the hybrid testing platform, the project will also develop novel hybrid testing methodologies frequently used in the automotive industry for accelerated hybrid testing that can be used across the wave energy sector to improve the reliability and survivability of the components and subsystems that form wave energy converters.