Setting Up and Running a Simulation

  1. Before you can set up and start a simulation, you must have retrieved thermodynamic and kinetic data and defined your system. See Defining a System in Console Mode.
  2. Set conditions that hold globally in the system using SET_CONDITION Global. Normally, this is the temperature condition.
  3. Enter a region into the current cell using ENTER_REGION. Give the region an arbitrary name. If the region that you create is not the cell’s first region, then by default it is attached to the right side of the last region created in the cell.
  4. For each region, use ENTER_GRID_COORDINATES to specify the region’s size (width) as well as the type of grid and the number of grid points to be used in the region. The size is specified in meters.
  5. Use ENTER_PHASE_IN_REGION to enter a phase into a region. Specify whether the phase is active/inactive, which type of phase it is, and what the name of the phase is.
  6. Use ENTER_COMPOSITIONS to specify the initial composition of a phase that you have entered in a region. You can specify the composition in terms of site fraction, mole fraction, mole percent, weight fraction, weight percent or u-fraction.  The composition profile may be entered by a user or be read from a file.
  7. Use SET_CONDITION Boundary to set non-default boundary conditions.
  8. Use ENTER_GEOMETRICAL_EXPONENT to enter the geometrical exponent that defines the geometry of the system. If you do not specify the geometrical exponent, then it is assumed that the system has a planar geometry.
  9. Use SET_SIMULATION_TIME to set the simulation time.
  10. If you want to use a specific model for the simulation calculations, then set the DICTRA module to use a COARSENING_MODEL, PARA_EQUILIBRIUM_MODEL, HOMOGENIZATION_MODEL or GB_MODEL. Also see About the Pearlite Model .
  11. You are now ready to run the simulation. However, it is recommended that you use SAVE_WORKSPACES to save the setup before running the simulation.
  12. Use SIMULATE_REACTION to start the simulation. To ensure that the simulation is run with default settings (answer Y), otherwise you may be prompted to specify certain values during the running of the simulations (if phases appear or disappear in the simulation).