Mesoscale Microstructure Simulation Project (MMSP) is a computational framework designed to provide a simple, consistent, and extensible programming interface for grid- and mesh-based methods used to simulate microstructure evolution at the mesoscale.
The project addresses a common challenge in computational materials science: enabling researchers to apply a wide range of numerical methods—such as Monte Carlo, cellular automata, and phase field modeling—within a unified and coherent software architecture.
Design Philosophy
MMSP is built around three guiding principles: simplicity, consistency, and extensibility. Simplicity refers to a minimal learning curve, allowing users to perform routine simulations with a relatively small amount of code. This makes MMSP accessible even to researchers with limited programming experience.
Consistency means that simulations across different dimensions and computational environments share nearly identical code structures. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations follow the same programming patterns, and single-processor codes can be parallelized with minimal modification. Even fundamentally different numerical approaches, such as Monte Carlo and phase field methods, are presented with a similar look and feel.
Extensibility ensures that new grid types, numerical schemes, or physical behaviors can be added without disrupting existing functionality. This makes MMSP well suited for long-term research projects and method development.
Core Architecture
MMSP is implemented entirely in ISO-compliant C++, prioritizing efficiency, portability, and performance. Rather than being a monolithic application, MMSP consists of a collection of C++ header files that define grid objects and implement their associated methods.
This modular structure allows users to combine and customize components while maintaining high computational efficiency. The framework supports grids of arbitrary dimensionality and is designed to scale from desktop systems to high-performance computing environments.
Key Features
MMSP provides a comprehensive set of tools for mesoscale simulation, including:
- a simple and extensible programming interface,
- computational grids of arbitrary dimension,
- parallel implementations using MPI,
- automatic and optimized parallel mesh topologies,
- utilities for grid visualization,
- Monte Carlo simulation methods,
- cellular automata models,
- conventional phase field methods,
- sparse phase field (sparsePF) implementations,
- general finite difference solvers for partial differential equations,
- more than twenty example problems runnable in both two and three dimensions, in serial and parallel modes.
Figure. Example of a large-scale mesoscale simulation.
Typical Applications
MMSP is designed to support a wide range of applications in materials science and statistical physics. Typical use cases include:
- grain growth and coarsening,
- precipitation reactions,
- crystal growth and solidification,
- lattice-based kinetic Monte Carlo simulations,
- classical statistical mechanics models such as the Ising and Heisenberg models,
- spinodal decomposition and other second-order phase transformations.
These applications highlight MMSP’s ability to model complex microstructural phenomena across a range of physical systems and length scales.
System Requirements
MMSP is designed to be lightweight and accessible. To work with the framework, users need only:
- minimal prior programming experience,
- an ISO-compliant C++ compiler,
- MPI libraries when compiling and running parallel simulations.
Development Roadmap
Minor revisions following version 3.0 are intended to focus on bug fixes, expanded documentation, and additional example codes. Planned features for future major releases include mesh adaptivity and multigrid solvers for elliptic problems such as electrostatics and elasticity.
Conclusion
The Mesoscale Microstructure Simulation Project represents a flexible and powerful platform for mesoscale modeling. By combining performance-oriented C++ implementation with a consistent and extensible interface, MMSP enables researchers to explore complex microstructural evolution processes while minimizing software overhead and development time.