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1 Pandat Basics

Pandat

TM

software is an integrated computational tool developed on the basis of

the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram) approach for multi-component

phase diagram calculation and materials property simulation. It has a robust

thermodynamic calculation engine, a friendly graphical user interface, and a

flexible post-calculation table editing function which allows user to plot variety

types of diagrams. The software is designed to create a working environment

that allows variety of calculation modules be integrated in the same workspace.

It currently includes five modules: PanPhaseDiagram (phase diagram and

thermodynamic property calculation), PanPrecipitation (precipitation

simulation), PanOptimizer (property optimization) PanDiffusion (diffusion

simulation) and PanSolidification (solidification simulation). Other modules

can be easily integrated into the workspace for extended applications. The

architecture of Pandat

TM

software is schematically shown in the Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 The architecture of Pandat

TM

software

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In addition to the functionalities provided by Pandat

TM

as a stand-alone

program being demonstrated in this manual, its calculation/optimization

engine (PanPhaseDiagram, PanOptimizer and PanPrecipitation) are built as

shared libraries and enable their integration with broader applications in the

field of Materials Science and Engineering. More detailed information about

Pandat software can be found in the published papers [2002Che, 2003Che,

2009Cao].

The PanGUI (user interface of the Pandat

TM

workspace) consists of six

components: Menus, Toolbars, Statusbar, Explorer window, Property

window and Main display window as shown in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2 The components of the PanGUI

Menus

Toolbars

Explorer

window

Property

window

Statusbar

Main display

window

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1.1 Menus

Pandat menus provide commands for performing operations on the active

window and other general operations such as opening and saving a workspace

file (*.pndx) or turning on the display of a toolbar. The menus are context

sensitive; that is, they change as the context in Pandat

TM

Main display window

changes. This ensures that only Context-relevant menus and menu commands

are displayed.

1.2 Toolbar

Pandat

TM

provides toolbar buttons for the frequently used menu commands.

Like the menu commands, toolbar buttons are also context-sensitive.

When a toolbar button is pointed at with the mouse, a "tool-tip" displays the

button name.

1.3 Statusbar

The Pandat

TM

Status bar is located at the bottom of the workspace. If the

cursor is on a graph, the coordinates are displayed in the status bar.

1.4 Explorer window

The Explorer window lists the contents in the current workspace. The contents

are displayed in a tree structure. By clicking each node, the text, graph or table

will be displayed in the Main display window of Pandat

TM

. A node of a

calculation result could be deleted.

1.5 Main display window

The Main display window displays the text, graph or table which corresponds

to each node in the Explorer window.

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More than one graph or table can be opened and their titles are displayed on

the top bar of the Main display window. User can display several plots together

in the Main display window by moving them to different positions. The

following Figure 1.3 and Figure 1.4 show how to move these windows. Select

the window on the top bar, hold the left button and move the mouse toward the

Main display window. A dialog showing relative positions will be displayed.

Move the mouse to the selected position and release the left button of the

mouse. Figure 1.3 shows moving the selected window to the right side and

Figure 1.4 shows moving the selected window (the Property Window) to the

center position.

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Figure 1.3 Rearrange the display window of Pandat

TM

, before and after

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Figure 1.4 Rearrange the explore and property windows of Pandat

TM

, before and

after