Integrated computational materials engineering

Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is an approach to design of products and the materials which comprise them by linking materials models at multiple lengthscales. The key words in the acronym are "Integrated", involving integrating models at multiple length scales, and "Engineering", signifying industrial utility. The focus is on the materials, i.e. understanding how processes produce material structures, how those structures give rise to material properties, and how to select materials for a given application.

This approach links together modeling methodologies such as:

• Finite element method models of part mechanics, fluid flow in processes, etc. at a large (1mm to many meters) scale
• Phase field models of phase transformations and microstructure evolution on nanometer to millimeter scales
• Monte Carlo and kinetic Monte Carlo models which efficiently find low-energy configurations of atoms or particles on nanometer to micron scales
• Molecular dynamics models of atomic motion on nanometer scales
• Density functional theory models of electron orbitals and bonding on angstrom to nanometer scales

See also

• Materials informatics
• Cyberinfrastructure

References

• JOM November 2006 issue focused on ICME