TOOLS FOR SIMULATION OF CRYSTAL GROWTH VIA CELLULAR AUTOMATA

THERE ARE MANY DIFFICULTIES RELATED TO THE USE OF COMPUTER SIMULATIONS FOR SOLVING SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS. ONE OF THE GREATEST BARRIERS IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BOTH THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM AND THE COMPUTING MACHINERY THAT IS BROUGHT TO BEAR ON THE PROBLEM, ESPECIALLY WHEN NON-TRADITIONSL MACHINERY IS INVOLVED. RECENTLY, A NEW CLASS OF COMPUTERS HAVE EVOLVED FOR SCIENTIFIC SIMULATIONS. THESE COMPUTERS, KNOWN AS "CELLULAR AUTOMATA MACHINES" (CAMS) ARE NOT YET WIDELY AVAILABLE, BUT HAVE SHOWN EXTREMELY ENCOURAGING RESULTS FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF PROBLEMS. THOUGH THE ARCHITECTURE OF THESE MACHINES SEEMS TO MAKE THEM IDEAL FOR A LARGE CLASS OF PROBLEMS IN MATERIALS SIMULATIONS, THE LACK OF WIDE-SPREAD AVAILABILITY OF THESE MACHINES HAS MADE IT DIFFICULT TO ACCES THEIR UTILITY IN ADDRESSING THESE, AND MORE GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE PROBLEM OF MAKING THESE MACHINES ACCESSIBLE FOR MATERIALS SIMULATIONS. THE APPROACH IS TO DESIGN EASY-TO-USE SOFTWARE FOR A LIMITED CLASS OF MATERIALS SIMULATIONS ON A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CAM. THE SOFTWARE WILL BE DESIGNED TO ACCOMODATE MORE GENERAL MATERIALS SIMULATIONS PROBLEMS AND NEWER CAMS PRESENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.