PRISMS-PF: A general framework for phase-field modeling with a matrix-free finite element method

Abstract

A new phase-field modeling framework with an emphasis on performance, flexibility, and ease of use is presented. Foremost among the strategies employed to fulfill these objectives are the use of a matrix-free finite element method and a modular, application-centric code structure. This approach is implemented in the new open-source PRISMS-PF framework. Its performance is enabled by the combination of a matrix-free variant of the finite element method with adaptive mesh refinement, explicit time integration, and multilevel parallelism. Benchmark testing with a particle growth problem shows PRISMS-PF with adaptive mesh refinement and higher-order elements to be up to 12 times faster than a finite difference code employing a second-order-accurate spatial discretization and first-order-accurate explicit time integration. Furthermore, for a two-dimensional solidification benchmark problem, the performance of PRISMS-PF meets or exceeds that of phase-field frameworks that focus on implicit/semi-implicit time stepping, even though the benchmark problem's small computational size reduces the scalability advantage of explicit timeintegration schemes. PRISMS-PF supports an arbitrary number of coupled governing equations. The code structure simplifies the modification of these governing equations by separating their definition from the implementation of the numerical methods used to solve them. As part of its modular design, the framework includes functionality for nucleation and polycrystalline systems available in any application to further broaden the phenomena that can be used to study. The versatility of this approach is demonstrated with examples from several common types of phase-field simulations, including coarsening subsequent to spinodal decomposition, solidification, precipitation, grain growth, and corrosion.

Simulation of the Electrochemical Impedance in a Three-Dimensional, Complex Microstructure of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathode and Its Application in the Microstructure Characterization

“…Thus, the numerical results presented here are sufficiently accurate for demonstrating the dependence of the effective tortuosity on and . In the future, we plan to implement the model into a finite element framework with adaptive-mesh capability such as PRISMS-PF framework ( Aagesen et al, 2018 ; DeWitt et al, 2020 ), in which SBM is already implemented, to increase the computational efficiency of the calculations at high frequencies.…”

Computer Simulations of Deep Eutectic Solvents. Challenges, Solutions, and Perspectives

“…The PFM approach has been successful in a wide variety of application such as directional solidification and dendritric growth [322][323][324], formation of polycrystalline structures [325,326] cardiac electric signals [327,328], and [325,329] and electrochemical effects [330]. On the computational side, PFM is highly amenable to large-scale parallelizable simulations and there are a number of software packages available to simulate various phasefield models based on both finite element and finite difference methods that usually employ some level of parallelization [331][332][333][334][335][336].…”

PRISMS-Fatigue computational framework for fatigue analysis in polycrystalline metals and alloys

“…This provides a simulation platform for various stages of fatigue crack formation and growth coupled with microstructure. In this context, it is important to acknowledge that the PRISMS software includes PRISMS-PF, a high performance phase-field code 32 which is based on the same deal.ii subroutines and framework as PRISMS-Plasticity, and the two codes are well integrated 29 .…”

“…An alternative paradigm more commonly pursued in modern digital materials science is based on developing an open-source framework, which can be used and/or modified by the fatigue community. In this regard examples in related materials research communities include Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations (DFT-FE 28 ), first-principles statistical mechanics (CASM 29 ), atomistic simulation (LAMMPS 30 ), crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) codes (PRISMS-Plasticity 31 ), and phase-field codes (PRISMS-PF 32 ). Developing an open-source fatigue framework for microstructurescale comparisons broadens the community of research to investigate complex fatigue-related problems, with a focus on developing other features rather than reimplementing basic elements of the framework in limited-use, homegrown codes and subroutines.…”