Visual Computer Simulation of Material Microstructure Changes Due to Manufacturing Processes

This thesis focuses on the design, algorithm development, and demonstration of a computer program that visually simulates the results of manufacturing processes on the microstructure of metals. The visual simulation program presents an image of grain structure similar to images of etched grains visible in a microscope. The program simulates the response of single-phase pure metals that undergo the processes of grain deformation, grain recrystallization, or grain growth. The computer program is designed to be integrated into any Windows 95/NT program that requires simulation of the microstructure of metals. Object-oriented methods are used in the design of the program to separate the information into objects that the computer can manipulate. Microstructure simulations generated by the program are compared with microstructures generated by other proven programs and with microstructures found in the literature. The results show that a computer program generates simulations of micro structures to the computer screen that visually approximate real microstructures and are equivalent to microstructures generated by other programs. Conclusions are drawn and possible future work is outlined.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Visual Computer Simulation of Material Microstructure Changes Due to Manufacturing Processes', published 1998 under ISBN 9781423554486 and ISBN 1423554485.