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10/23/2006 -
Introduction to Materials Modelling (2005)
edited by Zoe H. Barber
ISBN 1-902653-76-9. Maney Publishing for the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, London. 2005. Softcover. 165 pages. $31.00.
One of the most important trends in materials science has been, in recent years, the use of modeling to mimic, if not to predict, materials properties and processes over a broad range of length and time scales and under various external conditions. This trend comes hand in hand with the undeniable progress in computer power that allows scientists to efficiently scan the validity of practically any model output. However, as the authors of this book note, progress in modeling requires a wide range of expertise that is hard to assemble in one individual, and this monograph is an attempt to fill this gap. The tone of the book is well summarized in the introduction, when it is stated that what makes a model appealing is its simplicity and its ability to reproduce interesting materials behavior, although one may vividly disagree with the first part of the premise. And so, along the journey in materials modeling that this book offers, there is this recurring idea that properties must be simply described by modeling, even if it involves fundamental ideas of quantum mechanics or thermodynamics. As stipulated by the six authors through nine chapters, the topics are briefly brushed to give some introductory notions on various modeling scales and tools, and subjects that touch upon electronic structure, thermodynamics, kinetics, and simulations that span from Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics to meso-scale coarse-graining methods, and finally to finite element analysis and neural networks. Through this selected spectrum of computational materials modeling, the authors guide the reader through some examples such as alloy phase diagrams, phase-field modeling of precipitate growth, Brownian motion, and polymer behavior in soft condensed matter science. However, the tools put forward are not only fairly old but also provide no clues about recent advances. As an example, the section on phase diagram determination stops short of mentioning the generalized mean-field cluster-variation method (introduced in the 1950s) beyond the quasi-chemical approximation or lattice-gas Monte Carlo simulations.
Possibly the most appealing contributions of this book can be found in the two chapters dedicated to the general and multi-scale aspects of materials modeling. However, one of the lessons that the reader can get out of this book is that virtual laboratories based on multi-scale modeling are still in the infant stage since very few examples of linkage exist from electrons to engineering design, and since each author was tasked with a theme at a particular scale, the challenges ahead in linking the various scales were lost in what could have been a useful exercise.
In a book such as this one that attempts to review a field to an intended audience of primarily undergraduates and research students, an historical perspective and a comparative analysis of the models whose underpinning science spans from ab initio to continuum would have been welcome, and a reference to the book The Coming of Materials Science (2001) by R.W. Cahn should at least be mentioned. For the same reason, one would have expected a conclusion on the prospects in the field of model making, and at the end of each chapter a section on further readings such as Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods (2004) by R.M. Martin, Theoretical Materials Science—Tracing the Electronic Origins of Materials Behavior (2000) by A. Gonis, From Hamiltonians to Phase Diagrams (1987) by J. Hafner, A Guide to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics (2000) by D. P. Landau and K. Binder, and last but not least Handbook of Materials Modelling (2005) by Sidney Yip (editor).
The present book, easy to read and with brief sketches of entire fields of physics and computational science such as quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, simulations, finite element analysis, and neural networks, reveals to some extent the complexity of materials modeling in a simple way. At the same time it provides some opportunities for model development and usage. This book will appeal to those readers with a curiosity for formal constructs and is mostly recommended to students and materials scientists with an appreciation for computational materials science with no a priori knowledge of and very little background in the field.
For more on Introduction to Materials Modelling, visit the Maney Publishing web site. |
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