
                                Simulation Kit
                           Version 2.2 (April 1998)

AUTHOR

Marcus Karolewski

e-mail (a) akarol@ntu.edu.sg
e-mail (b) karolewski@alum.mit.edu

PLATFORM

Windows 95: Yes
Windows NT: Probably
Win 3.1 with Win 32s: Probably not

TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION

The Simulation Kit (SK) is released into the public domain by the author. If
you paid for it, you should not have.

WHAT IT DOES

The SK is a tool for researchers involved with the physics of atomic
collisions (< 100 keV) in solids. The SK models such collisions using
a molecular dynamics method which represents atomic interactions as
pair potentials. A target would typically consist of 1000-2000 atoms,
but up to 30,000 atoms are allowed (anticipating the 500 MHz Pentium).
The SK can be used with elemental targets, and under some circumstances,
with more complex targets.

CONTENTS

The executable files (SPIDER, SNOOK, WINNOW) of the Simulation Kit are
located in the BIN directory (as is the CONE utility). Various
documents and manuals are found in the DOCS directory. Input data for
example simulation projects are found in the EXAMPLES directory (which
also contains a directory relating to WINNOW). A tutorial project (with
documentation) is found in the TUTORIAL directory: you can start up Snook
and run this project immediately. New users of the SK should print out
and read the files \TUTORIAL\TUTORIAL.DOC and \DOCS\SIMPRIMR.DOC before
attempting any serious evaluation of the package.

GETTING STARTED

(1) Read TUTORIAL.DOC, then work through the tutorial.
(2) Read SIMPRIMR.DOC, and try to run the example projects which
fit your interests most closely.

Users risk frustration if they try to apply zero experience
of simulation to research-level simulation problems. It is
better to approach your objective slowly, making sure you
understand the fundamentals. 

LANGUAGE ISSUES

A. TRANSLATIONS
Machine translations of the DOCS files into French, German, Spanish
and Italian can be found at the following URL:

   http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/akarol/simkit.htm

Due to storage limitations, I will remove the files around July 1998.
After that, please e-mail me directly. The translations are terrible,
but may be useful by non-anglophones who are still learning English.

B. NUMERIC FORMAT
Please note that the 'Continental' style of numbers is not
supported by the SK: i.e. the expression '1,5'(Continental) cannot
be used in place of '1.5' (Commonwealth, US). 

CHANGES TO VERSION 2.2

* Inclusion of LSS, Oen-Robinson and Shapiro-Tombrello inelastic loss
  models
* Option to ignore target-target interactions (e.g. for ICISS simulations)
* Flags available for tweaking simulation model
* Improved gadgets for ISS computations
* Improved treatment of surface barrier effects
* A few minor changes, necessitating changes to input file formats

VERSION 2.1 COMPATIBILITY ISSUES

Input file formats have changed since the last version of the
Simulation Kit. If you want to use existing project input files,
you need to take note of the following details:

- Target files: You can use Spider's Target menu conversion option to convert
target files
- Projectile file: Incompatible (cannot be used or read: must be recreated)
- Run file: Automatically converted if opened in Spider
- Model file: You will get an error message; however, all items except for
those in the Specific Energies box will be correctly read by Spider
- Impact file: No change from previous version
- Batch definition files: Incompatible (must be recreated)

To sum up:
 - Target files must be explicitly converted
 - Projectile files must be recreated
 - Model and Run files must be read into Spider (the former will require
   some correction)
 - bdf files must be recreated
 - Impact files can be used without change

The *.snk output file format is unchanged from version 2.1.

FUTURE RELEASES

This may be the last major release of the SK. I feel that the pair
potential model cannot be taken much further than this. I intend to
begin work shortly on an embedded atom method (EAM) clone of the SK,
in order to satisfy demands for a model that is better able to
simulate low-energy processes (defects, diffusion and so on).

As always, many thanks to those correspondents who offered suggestions
and/or answered my e-mail questions.

Good luck with the package. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me
if you find yourself in trouble.


Marcus Karolewski

Edmonton-London-Singapore
1993-98
