Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is an approach to design products, the materials that comprise them, and their associated materials processing methods by linking materials models at multiple length scales. Key words 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. The key links are process-structures-properties-performance. The National Academies report describes the need for using multiscale materials modeling to capture the process-structures-properties-performance of a material.

Standardization in ICME

A fundamental requirement to meet the ambitious ICME objective of designing materials for specific products resp. components is an integrative and interdisciplinary computational description of the history of the component starting from the sound initial condition of a homogeneous, isotropic and stress free melt resp. gas phase and continuing via subsequent processing steps and eventually ending in the description of failure onset under operational load. Integrated Computational Materials Engineering is an approach to design products, the materials that comprise them, and their associated materials processing methods by linking materials models at multiple length scales. ICME thus naturally requires the combination of a variety of models and software tools. It is thus a common objective to build up a scientific network of stakeholders concentrating on boosting ICME into industrial application by defining a common communication standard for ICME relevant tools.

Standardization of information exchange

Efforts to generate a common language by standardizing and generalizing data formats for the exchange of simulation results represent a major mandatory step towards successful future applications of ICME. A future, structural framework for ICME comprising a variety of academic and/or commercial simulation tools operating on different scales and being modular interconnected by a common language in form of standardized data exchange will allow integrating different disciplines along the production chain, which by now have only scarcely interacted. This will substantially improve the understanding of individual processes by integrating the component history originating from preceding steps as the initial condition for the actual process. Eventually this will lead to optimized process and production scenarios and will allow effective tailoring of specific materials and component properties.

The ICMEg project and its mission

The ICMEg project aims to build up a scientific network of stakeholders concentrating on boosting ICME into industrial application by defining a common communication standard for ICME relevant tools. Eventually this will allow stakeholders from electronic, atomistic, mesoscopic and continuum communities to benefit from sharing knowledge and best practice and thus to promote a deeper understanding between the different communities of materials scientists, IT engineers and industrial users. ICMEg will create an international network of simulation providers and users. It will promote a deeper understanding between the different communities (academia and industry) each of them by now using very different tools/methods and data formats. The harmonization and standardization of information exchange along the life-cycle of a component and across the different scales (electronic, atomistic, mesoscopic, continuum) are the key activity of ICMEg. The mission of ICMEg is The activities of ICMEg include The ICMEg project ended in October 2016. Its major outcomes are Most of the activities being launched in the ICMEg project are continued by the European Materials Modelling Council and in the MarketPlace project

Multiscale modeling in material processing

Multiscale modeling aims to evaluate material properties or behavior on one level using information or models from different levels and properties of elementary processes. Usually, the following levels, addressing a phenomenon over a specific window of length and time, are recognized: There are some software codes that operate on different length scales such as: A comprehensive compilation of software tools with relevance for ICME is documented in the Handbook of Software Solutions for ICME

Examples of Model integration

Education

Katsuyo Thorton announced at the 2010 MS&T ICME Technical Committee meeting that NSF would be funding a "Summer School" on ICME at the University of Michigan starting in 2011. Northwestern began offering a Masters of Science Certificate in ICME in the fall of 2011. The first Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) course based upon Horstemeyer 2012 was delivered at Mississippi State University (MSU) in 2012 as a graduate course with distance learning students included [c.f., Sukhija et al., 2013]. It was later taught in 2013 and 2014 at MSU also with distance learning students. In 2015, the ICME Course was taught by Dr. Mark Horstemeyer (MSU) and Dr. William (Bill) Shelton (Louisiana State University, LSU) with students from each institution via distance learning. The goal of the methodology embraced in this course was to provide students with the basic skills to take advantage of the computational tools and experimental data provided by EVOCD in conducting simulations and bridging procedures for quantifying the structure-property relationships of materials at multiple length scales. On successful completion of the assigned projects, students published their multiscale modeling learning outcomes on the ICME Wiki, facilitating easy assessment of student achievements and embracing qualities set by the ABET engineering accreditation board.