Mote3D: an open-source toolbox for modelling periodic random particulate microstructures

Abstract

The implementation of a comprehensive toolbox for generating microstructure models of periodic random particulate materials is outlined. The toolbox provides the functionality to create random configurations of overlapping or non-overlapping spherical particles with user-defined minimum inter-particle centre-to-centre distance and periodic boundary and export these random particle configurations for use in numerical simulations, either as lists of particle centre coordinates and radii or as Python-based scripts for generating solid geometric models or periodic hexahedral meshes ('voxel meshes'). The random particle configurations can be used as microstructure models to investigate or predict the microstructure-property relation of various engineering materials such as particle-reinforced composites, structural alloys, (partially-)sintered ceramics, powders, porous media or granular matter, as demonstrated by several examples. The outlined toolbox is open-source, giving users the possibility to modify and adapt the code to suit specific needs. The toolbox is available at: https://github.com/Mote3D