Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik

MM 47: Poster Session II

MM 47.8: Poster

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 18:30–19:45, Poster C

Transition Path Sampling of Seeded Nucleation during Solidification in Nickel — •Sarath Menon, Grisell Diaz Leines, Jutta Rogal, and Ralf Drautz — Interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Materials Simulation, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Almost all technologically relevant solidification is based on heterogeneous nucleation. While it is known that the presence of impurities enhances nucleation processes and influences the evolution of the microstructure, little is known about the initial stages of nucleation from an atomic scale. This is because nucleation time scales are too long for conventional molecular dynamics methods and therefore a ’rare event’. We employ transition path sampling, an atomistic simulation method, to study the effect of prestructured seeds on nucleation in nickel. We use seeds of varying sizes and crystal structures and quantify their effect on the rate constant and free energy barrier to understand the role of seeds in nucleation mechanism. Even small seeds are capable of inducing spontaneous nucleation. The nucleation rate is controlled by the size and surface geometry of the seed. Moreover, the structure of the seed determines the structure of the solid crystal. The seeds facilitate pre-ordering in the liquid and different seeds may be used to induce the formation of specific polymorphs.