Research programs
In terms of reducing time and cost of developing new materials, materials R&D has been hindered by prototype design and testing. The two options for improvement are to reduce the number of prototypes and shorten the time of prototype testing. The focus of the CCMD is on the development of:
- Novel simulation tools and methods to support materials design decisions.
- Novel methods for collaborative, decision-based systems robust design of materials.
CCMD projects cover a spectrum of basic and more applied research relevant to this focus. Near-term research activities are intended to meet industrial needs such as models for predicting phase diagrams or simulating microstructural aspects of specific materials or processes, including efficient numerical implementations and data structures. Long term, revolutionary research projects involve a paradigm shift in materials development from a focus on empirical, trial-and-error methods to more predictive Computational approaches, including methods for robust, systems-based design of materials that consider realistic sources of uncertainty.
These two themes are strategically designed to emphasize multiscale, multifunctional robust materials design with a range of modeling and simulation tools, and first-principles and atomistic simulation support of combinatorial robust design, respectively. Since a comprehensive range of disciplines and skills is necessary to address research issues of interest to industry, the complementary expertise of Penn State and Georgia Tech is assembled for this I/UCRC:
- Computational thermodynamics and kinetics
- Process-structure relations (phase fields)
- Databases
- Computational structure-property relations
- Microstructure representation and characterization
- Systems-based, distributed, collaborative robust materials design
