Computherm LLC’s Pandat® software is a versatile software program for calculating thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams in multi-component systems. It combines a powerful calculation engine with a user-friendly Microscope Windows based graphical interface. The resulting program is easy for a novice to use and effective for the expert. The user interface of the Pandat® workspace consists of five components: Menus, Toolbars, Statusbar, Explorer window and Main display window.
 
The calculations performed by Pandat® are based on models for Gibbs free energy for every phase in a particular system. The thermodynamic parameters required for such calculations are optimized so that the model fits the available experimental data for a given phase. Such optimization was achieved by data mining from published journals and other commercial thermodynamic databases.

The different types of calculations done with Pandat® version 5.0 are Point (0D), Line (1D), Section (2D), Liquidus projection and Solidification Simulation. Although Pandat® does not require the users to supply initial values for stable phase equilibrium calculation, the basic calculation conditions have to be set up by users. Pandat® uses temperature-composition as a calculation space. For each calculation, one or more points in the temperature-composition space are defined. For example, one point defines the calculation condition for point calculations (0D) and solidification simulations, two points define the two ends for a line calculation (1D), and three non-collinear points define the 2D section for a section calculation (2D). Depending on the definition of these points, one or more variables in temperature and composition can change simultaneously along one direction. A liquidus projection calculation uses a special calculation space that is the liquid surface hyperspace.

One of the great features of Pandat® 5.0 is that one can run a series of calculations by defining them in a text file and letting them run over an extended period without having to wait on it. Such batch processes create a batch file after each calculation so that the user can easily create and modify them without memorizing their syntax. Last but not least, one can create and edit customized tables and graphs from the data collected from running the Pandat® 5.0 software.