Integrated Computational
Materials Engineering (ICME):
The Next Big Thing In Materials
John Allison
The University of Michigan
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
August 3, 2011
Materials Information Luncheon
1
Outline
• Integrated Computational Materials
Engineering (ICME) – What it is and
why it’s important
• Virtual Aluminum Castings – An ICME
case study at Ford Motor Co.
• ICME – An “emerging discipline” at a
tipping point
2
US National
Materials
Advisory Board Committee on
Integrated
Computational
Materials
Engineering
(ICME)
Tresa Pollock, Chair
John Allison,
Vice Chair
Integrated Computational
Materials Engineering
The Vision
Computationally-driven materials development
is a core activity of materials professionals in
the upcoming decades, uniting materials
science with materials engineering and
integrating materials more holistically and
computationally with product development.
4
What is ICME?
Integrated Computational Materials Engineering
(ICME) is the integration of materials
information, captured in computational tools,
with engineering product performance analysis
and manufacturing-process simulation.*
Manufacturing
Process
Simulation
Microstructure
Distribution
Property
Distribution
Product
Performance
Analysis
• Process &
product
optimization
• Innovation
* NAE ICME Report, 2008
Integrated Computational
Materials Engineering
Using advanced computational techniques, designs can be studied
and optimized in matters of hours or days. Optimization of new
materials must be done experimentally and can take 10-20 years.
Shape optimization of hypersonic vehicles
Source: K. Bowcutt, Boeing
Why this is important
• Innovations in materials and tight coupling of
component design, materials and
manufacturing have been key sources of
industrial competitiveness
• These innovations and tight coupling are
threatened by advances in computational
capability in design and manufacturing that
have “left materials field in the dust”.
• The global economy requires efficient
engineering, manufacturing and R&D
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The Divide Separating
Materials Science and Materials Engineering
First-Principles Calculated Equilibrium Volumes
of Bulk Al-Cu Compounds
16
'
Volume/atom (A3)
15
14
''

(1-x)VAl + xVCu
13
12
Solid Solution
11
10
0.0
Al
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Cu composition
1.0
Cu
Predicted Volume Change
Quantum Mechanics
Theory
g
Aging Temperature ( oC)
Calculated
Phase Diagram
Aging Time (hours)
Kinetics Experiment
Thermal Growth
8
n

V

k
t
f
(
c
,T
)

(
1

e
)
m
ax
3
V
Integrated Computational Materials
Engineering provides a means to link:
• Science and Engineering
• Manufacturing, Materials
and Design
• Experiments, Theory,
Simulation
• Information Across
Disciplines
9
8
Ford Virtual
Aluminum Castings
10
Traditional Durability
Analysis, ca 1985
Load
Inputs
Initial
Geometry
Durable
Component
Predict
Service
Life
Y
N
Database of
Material
Properties
Finite Element Analysis
11
Traditional Durability &
Manufacturing Analysis, ca 1995
Load
Inputs
Initial
Geometry
Durable
Component
Predict
Service
Life
Model
Casting
Y
N
Database of
Material
Properties
12
Ensure
Castability
Y
N
Traditional Product Development Process
Load
Inputs
Initial
Geometry
Durable
Component
Predict
Service
Life
Model
Casting
Y
N
Database of
Material
Properties
13
Ensure
Castability
Y
N
Build, Test,
Re-Build,
Re-Test
Virtual Aluminum Castings
Product
Property
Requirements
Initial
Geometry
Predict
Residual
Stress
Model
Casting
and Heat
Treatment
Ensure
Castability
Y
N
Alloy
Composition
14
Load
Inputs
Optimized
Process &
Product
Meet Property
Requirements
Predict
Local
Microstructure
Predict
Local
Properties
Y
N
Predict
Service
Life
Y
N
Optimized
Component
Virtual Aluminum Castings
The Ford Experiment in ICME
Product
Property
Requirements
Initial
Geometry
Predict
Residual
Stress
Model
Casting
and Heat
Treatment
Ensure
Castability
Y
N
Alloy
Composition
15
Load
Inputs
Optimized
Process &
Product
Meet Property
Requirements
Predict
Local
Microstructure
Predict
Local
Properties
Y
N
Predict
Service
Life
Y
N
Optimized
Component
The importance and complexity
of “microstructure”
1m
Engine Block
1 – 10 mm
0.1-1 nm
10 – 500mm
1-100 nm
Key materials processes:
• occur at many microstructural scales
• are all influenced by the manufacturing
history
• are three-dimensional in nature
0.03-.3nm
Cast Aluminum Processing-Structure-Property
Linkages
Heat Treatment
Processing
Casting
Solution n
Treatment
Chemistry
Aging
Thermodynamics
Microstructure
Micro porosity
Eutectic Phases
Precipitation
Materials Engineering is all about
compromises – ICME provides a means to
conduct quantitative tradeoffs
Properties
High Cycle Fatigue
Low Cycle Fatigue
Yield Strength
Thermal Growth
Materials represents a different class of
computational problem
•
•
•
Materials response and behavior involve a multitude of physical phenomena
with no single overarching modeling approach.
Capturing the essence of a material requires integration of a wide range of
modeling approaches dealing with separate and often competing
mechanisms and a wider range of length and time scales.
There are over 160,000 engineering materials!
Processing
Casting
Heat Treatment
Solution
n Treatment
Chemistry
Aging
Thermodynamics
Microstructure
Properties
Micro porosity
High Cycle Fatigue Low Cycle Fatigue
Eutectic Phases
Yield Strength
Precipitation
Thermal Growth
Integration of knowledge domains is
the key to ICME
Virtual Aluminum Castings Process Flow
Local Strength Prediction
Initial Geometry
Local Strength
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Casting Filling
Casting Thermal History
Local Microstructure
Using Virtual Aluminum Castings in Product and Process
Optimization
Target Strength = 220 MPa
210
230
Aging at 250C for 3hrs
220
Aging temperature 240C for 5hrs
Initial Heat Treatment
Process
205
Optimized Heat Treatment Process
Faster and Stronger !!
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Local Fatigue Strength Prediction
Initial Geometry
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Filling Analysis Thermal
Analysis
Local Porosity
Local Fatigue
Strength
Use of Local Fatigue Property
Prediction for Process Development
Combustion Surface
84MPa
Gravity Casting
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56MPa
Low Pressure
Casting
Virtual Aluminum Castings
Linking Manufacturing, Materials and Design
Local Residual Stresses
Component Durability
Component Durability
Finite Element Analysis
Local Fatigue Properties
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The VAC Business Case
Targets
• IMPROVE TIMING: Reduce product
and process development time 15-25%
• IMPROVE QUALITY:
• Improve launch quality /reduce scrap
• Eliminate failures during product
development
• Ensure high mileage durability
• IMPROVE PERFORMANCE:
• Enable high performance heads & blocks
• Reduce weight of components
• REDUCE COST:
• Reduce costs by over $120M
GLOBAL USERS
• North American Powertrain Operations
• European Powertrain Ops
• Ford of China
• Ford of Australia
• Mazda
ICME “Case Studies” have
demonstrated the promise
• Early ICME implementations have been
successful in a wide variety of industries
• A return-on-investment in the range of 3:1 to
9:1 can be realized.
• Typical investments were in the $5-20M
range.
“ICME is in an embryonic stage. For ICME to
succeed, it must be embraced as a discipline by the
materials profession”
Foundational Engineering Problems
Include a manufacturing process(es), a materials system
and an application or set of applications that define the
critical set of materials properties and geometries
• Examples of FEPs
• Lightweight, blast resistant structures
• Turbine disks for aeropropulsion
• $10-40M per FEP (3-5 year funding)
• Prioritize modeling, experimental, data issues to be tackled
• Provide a framework for assembly of multidisciplinary teams
• Provide near-term payoff
• Serve as the foundation for this emerging discipline
Integrated Computational
Materials Engineering
Cyberinfrastructure for ICME
To fully reach its potential, ICME requires new advances
in networking, computing, and software:
• Curated, repositories for data and material
models and simulation tools
• Linkage of application codes with diverse
materials modeling tools
• Geographically dispersed collaborative research
• Dispersed computational resources (Grid
computing)
Courtesy of T. Pollock, UCSB
1989
1995
2001
2004
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2008
1999
2009
2010
2011
Materials Genome Initiative
. . . This initiative offers a unique
opportunity for the United States
to discover, develop,
manufacture, and deploy
advanced materials at least
twice as fast as possible today,
at a fraction of the cost.
President Barack Obama, 24 June
2011
Announcing the Materials Genome
Initiative
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ICME – The Next Big Thing in Materials
“ICME is in an embryonic stage. For ICME to succeed, it must be
embraced as a discipline by the materials profession” NMAB Report, 2008
•The concept is fundamental and has the potential to have
a pervasive impact
•Global recognition that ICME is feasible and important
• North America: ICME
• Europe: Through-Process Modeling
• China: 集成计算材料工程
•Computational capability is no longer a limitation
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ICME – The Next Big Thing in Materials
• Government initiatives - Materials Genome Initiative !
• Growing industrial activity
• Growing academic activity
• Growing professional society activity: TMS, ASM, ASME,
AIAA, MRS
First World ICME Congress
July 2011
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ICME – An Emerging Discipline
At A Tipping Point
• Broaden involvement of the materials community
• Coordination & Planning
 ICME Roadmaps
 ICME development (including basic science) as an
integral part of all major materials and manufacturing
development programs
• Develop sustained efforts in:
 Integrated computational and experimental materials
science coupled with  Foundational Engineering Problems as demonstrators
 Information Infrastructure
 Commercial Integrated Software
 Education
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Summary
• Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME)
is a new approach for integrating
– Materials, manufacturing and design
– Science and engineering
– Experiment, theory and simulation
• Early stage developments clearly demonstrate the value
of ICME.
• ICME is an emerging discipline that promises to
transform materials science and engineering and lead to
increased industrial efficiency and competitiveness.
• To fully and efficiently realize the promise of ICME there
is a need for a global information infrastructure and
coordinated, sustained efforts - a grand challenge!
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