Modular simulation technique for virtual experiment of complex phenomena in materials

Collaborative materials design largely depends on the quality and utilization methodology of available information resources, and materials data systems play a central role in the beginning to set-up strategies of using such data systems to reach a design solution. One of the key issues in carrying out a strategic design of materials concerns establishing the interoperabilities of materials data systems, which are treated as syntactic and semantic discrepancy problems. In this paper, the syntactic difference is treated briefly at first. Next, the critical issue of semantic interoperability is addressed, and further characterized by introducing a level of detail of the physical modeling. It is shown that each interoperable object should correspond to a certain physical model with a varying level of detail. Hence, the problem of interoperability could be transformed into a problem of semantic impedance, fitting the variety of physical models and available datasets. Finally, for a future perspective on material design processes, a virtual experiment of materials is given as an essential interface to materials through Q/A to/from ‘artifacts’ of materials in computers.