Development of modified embedded atom potentials for the Cu–Ag system

The modified embedded atom method is tested in the atomistic simulations of binary fcc metallic alloys. As an example the alloying behaviour of Cu–Ag is studied using the molecular dynamics (MD) method. The MD algorithms that we use are based on the extended Hamiltonian formalism and the ordinary experimental conditions are simulated using the constant-pressure, constant temperature (NPT) (MD) method. The enthalpy of mixing values of the random Ag–Cu binary alloys are obtained as functions of concentration after 20 000 steps.     

FeCoCrCuNi高熵合金裂纹及孔洞结构力学与微观构象演化机理的分子动力学模拟研究

本文采用分子动力学方法研究了FeCoCrCuNi高熵合金裂纹及孔洞模型结构在不同轴向拉伸应变速率下的力学与微观结构演化机理. 结果表明：应变速率越高FeCoCrCuNi裂纹结构对应更高的过冲应变和过冲应力,其主要原因是高拉伸速率会导致高强度的BCC结构及孪晶结构的生成,而BCC结构及孪晶结构的产生进而会抑制应力的下降,通过应力-应变曲线,可知FeCoCrCuNi裂纹模型在轴向应力作用下表现为塑性形变. 对于不同尺寸的孔洞FeCoCrCuNi裂纹模型的应力模拟与结构分析,可以得出：孔洞尺寸越大, FeCoCrCuNi裂纹结构对应的过冲应变和过冲应力越小,其主要原因是大尺寸的孔洞造成孔洞之间产生裂纹的,进而会影响这个材料的屈服应变和屈服强度.     

Multimillion Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Nanostructures on Parallel Computers

Scalable space–time multiresolution algorithms implemented on massively parallel computers enable large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations involving up to a billion atoms. Multimillion atom MD simulations are performed to study critical issues in the area of structural and dynamical correlations in nanostructures. Our simulation research is focused on a few semiconductor, ceramic, and metallic nanostructures. These nanostructures systems include: nanometer-scale stress patterns in silicon/silicon nitride nanopixels; self-limiting growth and critical lateral sizes in gallium arsenide/indium arsenide nanomesas; structural transformation in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals; nanoindentation of crystalline and amorphous silicon nitride films; and dynamics of oxidation of metallic aluminum nanoparticles.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of processing using AFM pin tool

A three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) model is utilized to investigate the effect of tool geometry on the deformation process of the workpiece and the nature of deformation process at the atomic-scale. Results show that different states exist between the atomic force microscope (AFM) pin tool and the workpiece surface, i.e. the non-wear state, the ploughing state, the state in which ploughing is dominant and the state in which cutting plays a key role. A relationship between the deformation process of the workpiece and the potential energy variation is presented. The potential energy variation of atoms in different deformed regions in the workpiece such as plastically deformed region, elastically deformed region and the mixed deformation region is different. The features of variations of potential energy are discussed.     

Evaluating the effects of loading parameters on single-crystal slip in tantalum using molecular mechanics

This study is aimed at developing a physics-based crystal plasticity finite element model for body-centred cubic (BCC) metals, through the introduction of atomic-level deformation information from molecular dynamics (MD) investigations of dislocation motion at the onset of plastic flow. In this study, three critical variables governing crystal plasticity mediated by dislocation motion are considered. MD simulations are first performed across a range of finite temperatures up to 600K to quantify the temperature dependence of critical stress required for slip initiation. An important feature of slip in BCC metals is that it is not solely dependent on the Schmid law measure of resolved shear stress, commonly employed in crystal plasticity models. The configuration of a screw dislocation and its subsequent motion is studied under different load orientations to quantify these non-Schmid effects. Finally, the influence of strain rates on thermal activation is studied by inducing higher stresses during activation at higher applied strain rates. Functional dependence of the critical resolved shear stress on temperature, loading orientation and strain rate is determined from the MD simulation results. The functional forms are derived from the thermal activation mechanisms that govern the plastic behaviour and quantification of relevant deformation variables. The resulting physics-based rate-dependent crystal plasticity model is implemented in a crystal plasticity finite element code. Uniaxial simulations reveal orientation-dependent tension–compression asymmetry of yield that more accurately represents single-crystal experimental results than standard models.     

Structure of a tethered polymer under flow using molecular dynamics and hybrid molecular-continuum simulations

We analyse the structure of a single polymer tethered to a solid surface undergoing a Couette flow. We study the problem using molecular dynamics (MD) and hybrid MD-continuum simulations, wherein the polymer and the surrounding solvent are treated via standard MD, and the solvent flow farther away from the polymer is solved by continuum fluid dynamics (CFD). The polymer represents a freely jointed chain (FJC) and is modelled by Lennard-Jones (LJ) beads interacting through the FENE potential. The solvent (modelled as a LJ fluid) and a weakly attractive wall are treated at the molecular level. At large shear rates the polymer becomes more elongated than predicted by existing theoretical scaling laws. Also, along the normal-to-wall direction the structure observed for the FJC is, surprisingly, very similar to that predicted for a semiflexible chain. Comparison with previous Brownian dynamics simulations (which exclude both solvent and wall potential) indicates that these effects are due to the polymer–solvent and polymer–wall interactions. The hybrid simulations are in perfect agreement with the MD simulations, showing no trace of finite size effects. Importantly, the extra cost required to couple the MD and CFD domains is negligible.     

Tip models and force definitions in molecular dynamics simulations of scanning force microscopy

The definition of the time varying force on a tip with internal degrees of freedom in atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of scanning force microscopy experiments is discussed. We show that the static expression for the tip force is inadequate for calculating force fluctuations within the MD simulations and suggest a different method of calculating the tip force. By studying the size of tip force fluctuations for different tip models and various tip positions with respect to the surface, we demonstrate that the new method works equally well in both static and dynamic cases.     

Prediction of flow stress and textures of AZ31 magnesium alloy at elevated temperature

The viscoplastic behaviour of magnesium alloys at high temperatures leads to highly temperature-dependent mechanical properties. While at high strain rates a notable strain hardening response is observed, at low strain rates the material shows a smooth plastic response with negligible amount of hardening. This complicated behaviour is due to different deformation mechanisms that are active at different strain rate regimes, resulting in different strain rate sensitivity parameters. In this study we show, by utilizing both numerical simulations and experiments, that this behaviour can be predicted by a model that combines two deformation mechanisms, grain boundary sliding mechanism and dislocation glide mechanism. We discuss the importance of each deformation mechanism at different strain rate regimes based on the findings of modelling and experimental results for AZ3 magnesium alloy. By developing a model that includes the above-mentioned two deformation mechanism, the prediction of flow properties is expanded to a wide range of strain rate regimes compared to previous study. The obtained numerical findings for the stress–strain behaviour as well as texture evolution show good agreement with the experimental results.     

Solid-state crystal-to-amorphous transition in metal‐metal multilayers and its thermodynamic and atomistic modelling

In this review article, first a brief summary is presented concerning the formation of amorphous alloys (or metallic glasses) in binary metal systems by solid-state reaction of metallic multilayers. Secondly, under the framework of Miedema's model, thermodynamic modelling of crystal-to-amorphous transition is developed with special consideration of the excess interfacial free energy in metallic multilayers. Thirdly, the results of molecular dynamics simulations in some representative systems are presented, revealing the detailed kinetics of the crystal-to-amorphous transition on the atomic scale, such as the temperature/time dependence of interfacial reactions, the asymmetric growth of amorphous interlayers, and the nucleation and/or presence of growth barriers resulting from the interfacial texture. Fourthly, the critical solid solubilities of some representative systems are directly determined from the inter-atomic potentials through molecular dynamics simulations and then correlated with the metallic-glass-forming ability of the systems as well as their asymmetric growth during solid-state amorphization observed in experiments and/or simulations.     

Highly scalable discrete-particle simulations with novel coarse-graining: accessing the microscale

ABSTRACT

Simulating energetic materials with complex microstructure is a grand challenge, where until recently, an inherent gap in computational capabilities had existed in modelling grain-scale effects at the microscale. We have enabled a critical capability in modelling the multiscale nature of the energy release and propagation mechanisms in advanced energetic materials by implementing, in the widely used LAMMPS molecular dynamics (MD) package, several novel coarse-graining techniques that also treat chemical reactivity. Our innovative algorithmic developments rooted within the dissipative particle dynamics framework, along with performance optimisations and application of acceleration technologies, have enabled extensions in both the length and time scales far beyond those ever realised by atomistic reactive MD simulations. In this paper, we demonstrate these advances by modelling a shockwave propagating through a microstructured material and comparing performance with the state-of-the-art in atomistic reactive MD techniques. As a result of this work, unparalleled explorations in energetic materials research are now possible.     

金属纳米棒弯曲力学行为的分子动力学模拟

纳米结构的力学性能是纳米超微型器件设计的基础,分子动力学是研究纳米结构力学行为的有效方法.本文采用镶嵌原子方法模拟金属铜纳米棒的弯曲力学行为.计算结果表明由于尺寸效应和表面效应的影响,在纳观尺度下纳米结构表现出与宏观尺度下完全不同的力学特征.金属纳米棒弯曲力学过程分为初始变形迟滞阶段、线弹性变形阶段和塑性变形阶段.塑性变形阶段表现出“刚化”、“台阶”和较强的延性等特征. 关键词： 纳米结构 纳米棒 弯曲性能 分子动力学     

Test of a method for sampling the internal degrees of freedom of a flexible solute molecule based on adiabatic decoupling and temperature or force scaling

Simulation of the folding equilibrium of a polypeptide in solution is a computational challenge. Standard molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of such systems cover hundreds of nanoseconds, which is barely sufficient to obtain converged ensemble averages for properties that depend both on folded and unfolded peptide conformations. If one is not interested in dynamical properties of the solute, techniques to enhance the conformational sampling can be used to obtain the equilibrium properties more efficiently. Here the effect on particular equilibrium properties at 298?K of adiabatically decoupling the motion a β-hepta-peptide from the motion of the solvent and subsequently up-scaling its temperature or down-scaling the forces acting on it is investigated. The ensemble averages and rate of convergence are compared to those for standard MD simulations at two different temperatures and a simulation in which the temperature of the solute is increased to 340?K while keeping the solvent at 298?K. Adiabatic decoupling with a solute mass scaling factor s _m ?=?100 and a temperature scaling factor of s _T ?=?1.1 seems to slightly increase the convergence of several properties such as enthalpy of folding, NMR NOE atom–atom distances and ³J-couplings compared to a standard MD simulation at 298?K. Convergence is still slower than that observed at 340?K. The system with a temperature of 340?K for the solute and 298?K for the solvent without scaling of the mass converges fastest. Using a force scaling factor s _V ?=?0.909 perturbs the system too much and leads to a destabilization of the folded structure. The sampling efficiency and possible distortive effects on the configurational distribution of the solute degrees of freedom due to adiabatic decoupling and temperature or force scaling are also analysed for a simpler model, a dichloroethane molecule in water. It appears that an up-scaling of the mass of the solute reduces the sampling more than the subsequent up-scaling of the temperature or down-scaling of the force enhances it. This means that adiabatic decoupling the solute degrees of freedom from the solvent ones followed by an up-scaling of temperature of down-scaling of the forces does not lead to significantly enhanced sampling of the folding equilibrium.     

"Work-Hardenable" ductile bulk metallic glass

Usually, monolithic bulk metallic glasses undergo inhomogeneous plastic deformation and exhibit poor ductility (< 1%) at room temperature. We present a new class of bulk metallic glass, which exhibits high strength of up to 2265 MPa together with extensive "work hardening" and large ductility of 18%. Significant increase in the flow stress was observed during deformation. The "work-hardening" capability and ductility of this class of metallic glass is attributed to a unique structure correlated with atomic-scale inhomogeneity, leading to an inherent capability of extensive shear band formation, interactions, and multiplication of shear bands.     

Speed dependence of atomic stick-slip friction in optimally matched experiments and molecular dynamics simulations

The atomic stick-slip behavior of a Pt tip sliding on a Au(111) surface is studied with atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments and accelerated (i.e., reduced sliding speed) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD and AFM conditions are controlled to match, as closely as possible, the geometry and orientation, load, temperature, and compliance. We observe clear stick-slip without any damage. Comparison of both MD and AFM results with the thermally activated Prandtl-Tomlinson model shows that MD results at the highest speeds are not in the thermally activated regime. At lower speeds, within the thermally activated regime, AFM and MD provide consistent energetics, but attempt frequencies differ by orders of magnitude. Because this discrepancy lies in attempt frequencies and not energetics, atomistic details in MD simulations can be reliably used in interpreting AFM data if the MD speeds are slow enough.     

Extraordinary plasticity of ductile bulk metallic glasses

Shear bands generally initiate strain softening and result in low ductility of metallic glasses. In this Letter, we report high-resolution electron microscope observations of shear bands in a ductile metallic glass. Strain softening caused by localized shearing was found to be effectively prevented by nanocrystallization that is in situ produced by plastic flow within the shear bands, leading to large plasticity and strain hardening. These atomic-scale observations not only well explain the extraordinary plasticity that was recently observed in some bulk metallic glasses, but also reveal a novel deformation mechanism that can effectively improve the ductility of monolithic metallic glasses.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of nano-scale interfacial friction characteristic for different tribopair systems

3D non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations using embedded atom potentials method (EAM) are performed to identify the dynamics processes of atomic-scale interfacial friction taking places in metal tribopairs. A block-block sliding simulation model for soft-to-hard (Cu/Fe) and soft-to-soft (Cu/Ag) tribopairs with is built. The microstructural evolution and temperature variation of the two tribopairs are analyzed at different sliding speeds. The results show that the average temperature of the two different tribopairs both increases rapidly during the transient sliding period. The different microstructural changes for the two tribopairs, including extensive plastic deformation, mechanical mixing and material transfer are observed when the temperature rapidly increases. The characteristics of the friction effects for the two tribopairs are also revealed by analyzing the friction force evolution as a function of time and velocity.     

The increasing of localized free volume in bulk metallic glass under uniaxial compression

Using transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction, we have investigated the microstructure of a Zr₅₅Al₁₀Ni₅Cu₃₀ bulk metallic glass under a uniaxial compression until a failure occurs at room temperature. It is shown that the amorphous structure has changed locally in the vicinity of the failure plane after the plastic deformation. An increase in free volume is observed within the localized areas due to the concentration of plastic flow, suggesting that the increasing of local free volume dominates the deformation mechanism of the metallic glass. The effect of free volume on the `serrated flow' behaviour in the stress--strain curves during the uniaxial compression is discussed.     

Multiscale simulation from atomistic to continuum – coupling molecular dynamics (MD) with the material point method (MPM)

A new multiscale simulation approach is introduced that couples atomistic-scale simulations using molecular dynamics (MD) with continuum-scale simulations using the recently developed material point method (MPM). In MPM, material continuum is represented by a finite collection of material points carrying all relevant physical characteristics, such as mass, acceleration, velocity, strain and stress. The use of material points at the continuum level provides a natural connection with the atoms in the lattice at the atomistic scale. A hierarchical mesh refinement technique in MPM is presented to scale down the continuum level to the atomistic level, so that material points at the fine level in MPM are allowed to directly couple with the atoms in MD. A one-to-one correspondence of MD atoms and MPM points is used in the transition region and non-local elastic theory is used to assure compatibility between MD and MPM regions, so that seamless coupling between MD and MPM can be accomplished. A silicon single crystal under uniaxial tension is used in demonstrating the viability of the technique. A Tersoff-type, three-body potential was used in the MD simulations. The coupled MD/MPM simulations show that silicon under nanometric tension experiences, with increasing elongation in elasticity, dislocation generation and plasticity by slip, void formation and propagation, formation of amorphous structure, necking, and final rupture. Results are presented in terms of stress–strain relationships at several strain rates, as well as the rate dependence of uniaxial material properties. This new multiscale computational method has potential for use in cases where a detailed atomistic-level analysis is necessary in localized spatially separated regions whereas continuum mechanics is adequate in the rest of the material.     

Nearly golden-ratio order in Ta metallic glass

The formation of mono-atomic tantalum(Ta)metallic glass(MG)through ultrafast liquid cooling is investigated by ab-initio molecular dynamics(MD)simulations.It is found that there exists nearly golden ratio order(NGRO)between the nearest and second nearest atoms in Ta MG,which has been indirectly confirmed by Khmich et al.and Liang et al..The NGRO is another universal structural feature in metallic glass besides the local five-fold symmetry(LFFS).Further analyzing of electronic structure shows that the obvious orientation of covalent bond could be attributed to the NGRO in amorphous Ta at 300 K.     

SHAKE parallelization

SHAKE is a widely used algorithm to impose general holonomic constraints during molecular simulations. By imposing constraints on stiff degrees of freedom that require integration with small time steps (without the constraints) we are able to calculate trajectories with time steps larger by approximately a factor of two. The larger time step makes it possible to run longer simulations. Another approach to extend the scope of Molecular Dynamics is parallelization. Parallelization speeds up the calculation of the forces between the atoms and makes it possible to compute longer trajectories with better statistics for thermodynamic and kinetic averages. A combination of SHAKE and parallelism is therefore highly desired. Unfortunately, the most widely used SHAKE algorithm (of bond relaxation) is inappropriate for parallelization and alternatives are needed. The alternatives must minimize communication, lead to good load balancing, and offer significantly better performance than the bond relaxation approach. The algorithm should also scale with the number of processors. We describe the theory behind different implementations of constrained dynamics on parallel systems, and their implementation on common architectures.