Yannick van Dijk

Automation of robot programming at paint shop

My key responsibilities at the BMW Group Research and Innovation Centre in Munich include: • Carrying out thermomechanical simulations of body-in-white passing through paint dryers • Ensuring proper drying of protective layers and curing of structural adhesives • Calibrating simulations with experimental measurements • Providing support for the planning of new paint shops • Continuing the development of simulation methods

My research comprises the development of a numerical simulation to assess the deformation of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics subjected to automotive drying ovens. I have implemented a recursive constitutive formulation in ABAQUS for orthotropic viscoelasticity by writing a material user subroutine. Carrying out optical tracking measurements with thermoplastic components for early development allowed me to validate my model. Delft University of Technology awarded the thesis with an 8.5 out of 10.

Performing mechanical characterisation tests, chemical analyses, and statistical processing of the experimental results constitute the main part of my internship activities. I have improved an existing experimental setup for validation purposes by reducing thermal expansion of a fixture through geometric stress compensation. This was achieved by utilising differences in thermal expansion of various types of graphite.

Clients range from company executives to members of the European Council. In addition, coordinating and managing the logistics during international events in The Netherlands constitutes the workload.

The transport of corporate lease vehicles from the company that has the ownership to the lease applicant and vice versa. Inspection of the vehicles as a part of quality control is included in the routine of delivery.

Graduates are equipped with extensive understanding in both the state-of-the-art and novelties regarding manufacturing techniques, non-linear modelling, and structural analysis of composite structures.