OOF: Finite Element Analysis of Microstructures

ppm2oof is public domain software created at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as part of the OOF finite element package. OOF is designed to compute and investigate the properties of materials, beginning with an image of their microstructures and the physical properties of their constituents. OOF has two parts: oof, which is a finite element solver, and ppm2oof, which is the front end to oof. It allows the user (you, hopefully) to specify which materials correspond to regions in an image of a microstructure by several different mechanisms--for instance, by pointing and clicking, by specifying of the parameters of function that operates on the graphical image, or by running a script.

Spatial correlation of material properties is only one component of ppm2oof's job. ppm2oof also creates a discrete computational mesh of elements that inherit the material properties from the associated underlying graphical image. Furthermore, ppm2oof dynamically adapts the mesh by comparing it to the underlying microstructure and optimizing the location and number of mesh points.

Yet another component of ppm2oof's job description is the production of an input file for a numerical solver program such as oof. Initially, ppm2oof was designed solely to be a front-end to oof. It writes a specialized data file (e.g., filename.goof) called a goof ^[2] file, which oof as the starting point for computational virtual experiments. (oof's operation is described in the oof manual [OOFMANUAL].) However, public domain software that serves as a translator from ppm2oof to input files for commericial finite element solvers is being created and is available at the OOF website. The creators of oof and ppm2oof encourage you experiment with oof as a solver--oof will continue become more powerful and its object oriented elements will be programed to perform disparate, interesting, and interactive simulation tasks. It is expected that oof and ppm2oof will eventually merge into one program. An investment of time becoming familiar with OOF will, we hope, have significant intellectual returns.