OOF: Finite Element Analysis of Microstructures

Welcome to OOF

OOF2 version 2.3.0 is now available! Download it from the OOF2 web page.

OOF3D version 3.2.4 is now available! Download it from the OOF3D web page.

A micrograph of a thermal barrier coating Materials assigned in ppm2oof

Start with a micrograph...

... select features in the image and assign material properties to them...

schematic of a virtual experiment image of stresses in the thermal barrier coating

... then perform a virtual experiment...

... and measure and visualize the internal stresses.

What is it?

OOF is designed to help materials scientists calculate macroscopic properties from images of real or simulated microstructures. It reads an image, assigns material properties to features in the image, and conducts virtual experiments to determine the macroscopic properties of the microstructure.

The first version of OOF consisted of two programs, ppm2oof and oof. ppm2oof read images and created a finite element mesh, and oof performed virtual experiments on the mesh. There were two separate versions, one which only solved elasticity problems, and one which solved coupled elasticity and thermal diffusion problems. Those two versions are still available on the OOF1 download page, but they are no longer being supported.

OOF2 improves on OOF1 in a number of ways. Most importantly, OOF2 can solve a much larger variety of physics problems, and can be easily extended to cover even more. For more information, and to download the program, see the OOF2 page.

OOF3D generalizes OOF2 to 3 dimensions, using a stack of 2D images to create a three dimensional microstructure. It includes (or will shortly include) all of the features of OOF2.

The programs are written in C++ and Python and benefit from an object-oriented design. The underlying numerical solutions rely on finite element technology. Hence the name OOF, for object-oriented finite element analysis.

Downloads

Current versions under Active Development:

Old versions under Minimal Maintenance, but which might still work:

Mail

Information on how to join the OOF mailing list or contact the authors can be found on our mailing list page.

Please! Send us reprints, links and references to work you are doing with OOF. Also, if you would like to write us shameless praise for our program, we'll happily forward it to our managers...

Industry Week logo

OOF was named one of the top 25 Technologies of the Year by Industry Week magazine in December 1999.