Ab initio study of the effects of helium on the mechanical properties of different erbium hydrides

Although rare-earth metals have increasingly received attention for use in the storage and transportation of the tritium used in nuclear fusion reactions, they still face great challenges, such as the effect of helium on the mechanical properties of different erbium hydrides. In this work, first principles are used to study the mechanical properties(elastic constants, Young's modulus, transverse shear modulus and bulk modulus) of different erbium hydrides exposed to helium. The Young's modulus, the transverse shear modulus and the bulk modulus are given based on the elastic constants calculated according to first principles. It is found that the mechanical properties of all three erbium hydrides decrease in the presence of helium, and the decline of the mechanical properties of ErH_3 is the most serious. To explain the reason for the decrease in the mechanical properties, the densities of the states of erbium hydrides are calculated. During the calculations, helium embrittlement is not found and the ductility of the erbium hydrides improves following the production of helium at the helium concentrations considered in this work.     

Ab initio calculation of the adsorption of helium on lithium hydride

Calculations of the physical adsorption of helium on model lithium hydride surfaces have been made using the FSGO approach. A total of eleven potential adsorption sites were investigated. Of these adsorption is predicted on seven sites, with initial heats of adsorption ranging between 7.4 and 0.8 kJ mole^?1. Additionally, the effects of intuitive simplifications based on the easily visualised nature of the wavefunction are examined.     

Ab initio potential energy curve for the helium atom pair and thermophysical properties of the dilute helium gas. II. Thermophysical standard values for low-density helium

A helium–helium interatomic potential energy curve determined from quantum-mechanical ab initio calculations and described with an analytical representation considering relativistic retardation effects (R. Hellmann, E. Bich, and E. Vogel, Molec. Phys. (in press)) was used in the framework of the quantum-statistical mechanics and of the corresponding kinetic theory to calculate the most important thermophysical properties of helium governed by two-body and three-body interactions. The second pressure virial coefficient as well as the viscosity and thermal conductivity coefficients, the last two in the so-called limit of zero density, were calculated for ³He and ⁴He from 1 to 10 000 K and the third pressure virial coefficient for ⁴He from 20 to 10 000 K. The transport property values can be applied as standard values for the complete temperature range of the calculations characterized by an uncertainty of ±0.02% for temperatures above 15 K. This uncertainty is superior to the best experimental measurements at ambient temperature.     

Ab initio study of the structural properties of magnesium

Structural properties of magnesium in the hcp structure are calculated using the ab initio pseudopotential method within the local-density-functional formalism. The calculated lattice constants, cohesive energy, bulk modulus, and Poisson's ratio are in good agreement with experimental values. A comparison with the results of beryllium is also discussed.     

Ab initio investigation of the mechanical properties of copper

Employing the ab initio total energy method based on the density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation, we have systematically investigated the theoretical mechanical properties of copper (Cu). The theoretical tensile strengths are calculated to be 25.3 GPa, 5.9 GPa, and 37.6 GPa for the fcc Cu single crystal in the [001], [110], and [111] directions, respectively. Among the three directions, the [110] direction is the weakest one due to the occurrence of structure transition at the lower strain and the weakest interaction of atoms between the (110) planes, while the [111] direction is the strongest direction because of the strongest interaction of atoms between the (111) planes. In terms of the elastic constants of Cu single crystal, we also estimate some mechanical quantities of polycrystalline Cu, including bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young’s modulus E p , and Poisson’s ratio ν.     

Ab initio study of dynamical properties of U-Nb alloy melt

The U-Nb alloy, as a kind of nuclear material with good corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, plays an important role in the nuclear industry. However, the experimental measurements and theoretical calculations of many parameters which are essential in describing the dynamical properties of this alloy melt, including density, diffusivity, and viscosity, have not been carried out yet. The lack of data on the dynamical properties of nuclear materials seriously hinders the high-performance nuclear materials from being developed and applied. In this work, the dynamical properties of the U-Nb alloy melt are systematically studied by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and their corresponding mathematical models are established, thereby being able to rapidly calculate the densities, diffusion coefficients, viscosities, and their activation energies in the whole U-Nb liquid region. This work provides a new idea for investigating the dynamical properties of binary alloy melts, thereby promoting the development of melt research.     

高压下单晶LiF的光学及热力学性质的密度泛函理论研究

采用平面波赝势密度泛函方法,对单晶氟化锂(LiF)在0~500 GPa静水压下的光学性质进行了理论研究,并利用Vinet状态方程和准简谐Debye模型得到了其热力学性质.理论计算结果表明单晶氟化锂(LiF)在0~500 GPa静水压范围内具有良好的透明性,吸收波段随压强的增加而出现了蓝移.计算所得晶格常数、体积模量及其对压强的一阶导数与实验值相符合.     

Ab initio finite-temperature excitons

The coupling with the lattice vibrations is shown to drastically modify the state-of-the-art picture of the excitonic states based on a frozen-atom approximation. The zero-point vibrations renormalize the bare energies and optical strengths. Excitons acquire a nonradiative lifetime that decreases with increasing temperature. The optical brightness turns out to be strongly temperature-dependent such as to induce bright to dark (and vice versa) transitions. The finite-temperature experimental optical absorption spectra of bulk Si and hexagonal BN are successfully explained without using any external parameter.     

Ab initio investigations of the elastic properties of chlorates and perchlorates

Elastic properties of NaClO₃, KClO₃, LiClO₄, NaClO₄, and KClO₄ have been investigated from first principles by the method of linear combination of atomic orbitals in the gradient approximation of the density functional theory using CRYSTAL software. The elastic constants and moduli, hardness, Poisson’s ratio, and the anisotropy parameters have been calculated. The velocities of sound, the Debye temperature, the thermal conductivity, and the Grüneisen parameter have been estimated. It has been found that these compounds are mechanically stable, anisotropic, and ductile materials. The dependences of their elastic parameters on the atomic number of the cation have been calculated. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Ab initio calculations of yttrium nitride: structural and electronic properties

Using first principles total energy calculations within the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method, we have studied the structural and electronic properties of yttrium nitride (YN) in the three phases, namely wurtzite, caesium chloride and rocksalt structures. The calculations are performed at zero and under hydrostatic pressure. In agreement with previous findings, it is found that the favored phase for YN is the rocksalt-like structure. We predict that at zero pressure YN in the rocksalt structure is a semiconductor with an indirect bandgap of 0.8 eV. A phase transition from a rocksalt to a caesium chloride structure is found to occur at ∼134 GPa. Besides, a transition from an indirect (Γ−X) bandgap semiconductor to a direct (X−X) one is predicted at pressure of ∼84 GPa. For the electron effective mass of rocksalt YN, these are the first results, to our knowledge. The information derived from the present study may be useful for the use of YN as an active layer in electronic devices such as diodes and transistors.     

Ab initio studies of the electronic properties of the silica surface

Self-consistent unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations for the surface of crystalline silica (α-quartz) have been performed. We report here the one-electron energy levels and wavefunctions for several models of surface geometry, and a comparison is then made with experimentally determined densities of states.     

Ab initio lattice dynamics and thermodynamic properties of SrO under pressure

We present an ab initio calculation of lattice dynamics and thermodynamic properties of SrO in the NaCl (B1) and CsCl (B2) structured phases under pressure. We employ the density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) within the local density approximation (LDA) in conjunction with the quasi-harmonic approximation. At zero pressure, the calculated dispersions agree well with the measured ones for the B1 phase. A pressure-induced soft transverse acoustic (TA) phonon mode is identified at the zone boundary X point of the Brillouin zone. The B2 phase is stable at high pressure. Our analysis suggest that this soft transverse mode is responsible for the pressure induced structural phase transition. The increase of the electronic dielectric function with pressure is attributed to the closure of the p–d gaps. The thermal expansion coefficient decreases with pressure and does not show any negative behavior. The predicted transition pressure decreases with temperature.     

Ab initio thermodynamic properties for different isomers of the AlO molecule

We present ab initio thermodynamic properties for seven different geometric isomers of molecular Al₂O₃ over a wide temperature range. The rigid rotator-harmonic oscillator approximation is used to calculate the partition function as it is generally applied in thermodynamic studies of polyatomic molecules. The molecular data employed in setting up the partition functions are taken from the theoretical results of ab initio MP2/6-31G(d) calculations. An analysis of the effects of the various contributions is made. The resulting thermodynamic functions of Al₂O₃ are consistent with the JANAF thermochemical data compilation. Some thermochemical implications are discussed. Received: 9 September 1998 / Received in final form: 2 October 1998