When we talk about additive manufacturing with metal, most people – even in the power generation industry – first think of ‘Selective Laser Melting’(SLM), which uses a laser to build components layer by layer from a bed of metal powder in a small chamber. This technology is proofing to be successful with respect to producing […]

Driven by cost effective sensors everywhere, linked to really smart mobile devices (including drones), and supported by limitless compute power in the cloud, it seems every week there is another smart, data driven way of doing something.

Let’s start with, so what is a ‘digital twin’ – well, I would say that it is an exact representation of a component, or group of components, in a digital based environment i.e. a computer program. Not just a rough look-a-like, such as Minecraft or some other Xbox game (other gaming platforms are available), but a much more detailed and exact representation that includes fluid, mechanical and electrical simulation elements.