Classical molecular dynamics (MD) is extensively employed to explore the properties, deformations, and fractures of materials at the atomic scale. Identifying local structures is crucial for understanding the mechanisms behind material deformation and fracture. Nevertheless, analyzing the local lattice structure at high temperatures poses challenges due to atomic thermal fluctuations, which act as noise and potentially lead to misjudgment of the local lattice structure. To date, various strategies have been implemented to circumvent this issue. However, they cannot be a solution because it is unable to reproduce phenomena unique to high temperatures, whereas others require significant computational resources. This paper introduces an innovative method to reduce atomic thermal fluctuations using a straightforward algorithm, thereby facilitating accurate identification of local lattice structures even at high temperatures. Our approach incorporates novel degrees of freedom, termed ‘Markers,’ that are linked to atoms. By reducing the thermal fluctuation of these Markers, precise analysis of the local lattice structure becomes feasible. The efficacy of this method is validated through its thermal reducibility and Markers trackabilities to atoms. Utilizing common neighbor analysis, the error rate for structure identification with our method is nearly 0% at temperatures up to 1200 K in Fe, in contrast to approximately 5% without it. Furthermore, the average distance between atoms and Markers remains below 0.1 Å. Applying our method to phase transformations, we successfully observed the transition from face-centered cubic to body-centered cubic structure in Fe at 1200 K. This method holds promise for expanding the capabilities of MD simulations at high temperatures.

In the realm of photovoltaic applications, scientists and technocrats are striving to maximize the solar cell input photon energy conversion to electricity. However, achieving optimal cell efficiency requires significant time and energy investment for each variation and optimization. To overcome this issue authors simulated and studied the fabricated cell for optimizing conditions, which can save time and efforts for the relatively better outcomes. The family of transition metal chalcogenides holds promise as a material that yield improved outcomes in optoelectronic applications, particularly in photovoltaics. These materials are employed in experimental investigations aimed at enhancing solar cell parameters, resulting in the development of the FTO/ZnO/ZrS2/MoS2/CuO/Au composite cell. Numerical simulations utilizing SCAPS-1D software is conducted, focusing on the significance of CuO as a hole transport layer (HTL), and ZnO as an electron transport layer (ETL). The investigation examines into the impact of various factors, including thickness, bandgap, and carrier densities for both HTL and ETL, on fundamental solar cell parameters. The study indicates that device parameters are influenced by factors such as recombination rate, photogenerated current, charge carrier length, and built-in-voltage. Optimized parameters for HTL, including thickness, bandgap, and carrier concentration, are determined to be 0⋅35 μm, 1⋅2 eV, and 1⋅0 × 1020 cm–3, respectively. For ETL, the optimized parameters are found to be 0⋅05 μm, 3⋅1 eV, and 1⋅0 × 1018 cm–3, respectively. With these optimized parameters, the efficiency of the solar cell reached 20⋅64%, accompanied by open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, and fill factor values of 0.836 V, 36.021 mA⋅cm–2, and 68⋅54%, respectively. The simulated results indicate that addition of two extra layers and the use of efficient binary materials in heterojunction formation can effectively enhance device parameters, offering advantages such as low-cost and large-scale fabrication.

The discovery of complex concentrated alloys (CCA) has unveiled materials with diverse atomic environments, prompting the exploration of solute segregation beyond dilute alloys. However, the vast number of possible elemental interactions means a computationally prohibitive number of simulations are needed for comprehensive segregation energy spectrum analysis. Data-driven methods offer promising solutions for overcoming such limitations for modeling segregation in such chemically complex environments (CCEs), and are employed in this study to understand segregation behavior of a refractory CCA, NbMoTaW. A flexible methodology is developed that uses composable computational modules, with different arrangements of these modules employed to obtain site availabilities at absolute zero and the corresponding density of states beyond the dilute limit, resulting in an extremely large dataset containing 10 million data points. The artificial neural network developed here can rely solely on descriptions of local atomic environments to predict behavior at the dilute limit with very small errors, while the addition of negative segregation instance classification allows any solute concentration from zero up to the equiatomic concentration for ternary or quaternary alloys to be modeled at room temperature. The machine learning model thus achieves a significant speed advantage over traditional atomistic simulations, being four orders of magnitude faster, while only experiencing a minimal reduction in accuracy. This efficiency presents a powerful tool for rapid microstructural and interfacial design in unseen domains. Scientifically, our approach reveals a transition in the segregation behavior of Mo from unfavorable in simple systems to favorable in complex environments. Additionally, increasing solute concentration was observed to cause anti-segregation sites to begin to fill, challenging conventional understanding and highlighting the complexity of segregation dynamics in CCEs.

FeCoCrNiCu high-entropy alloys (HEAs) exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties and have the capability to withstand extreme temperatures and pressures. Their exceptional attributes make them suitable for diverse applications, from aerospace to chemical industry. We employ atomic-scale simulations to explore the effects of twinning boundary and twinning thickness on the mechanical behavior of nanotwinned FeCoCrNiCu during nanoindentation. The findings suggest that as the twinning thickness decreases within the range of 19.3–28.9 Å, both twinning partial slips (TPSs) and horizontal TPSs gradually become dominant in governing the plastic behaviors of the nanotwinned FeCoCrNiCu, thereby resulting in an inverse Hall–Petch effect. Remarkably, when the twinning thickness is compressed below 19.3 Å, a shift in the plastic deformation mechanism emerges, triggering the conventional Hall–Petch relation. The observed Hall–Petch behavior in nanotwinned FeCoCrNiCu is attributed to the strengthening effect imparted by the twinning boundaries. Consequently, the twinning boundary play an instrumental role in steering the plastic deformation mechanism of the nanotwinned FeCoCrNiCu when the twinning thickness descends beneath 19.3 Å. This study contributes significant insights towards the design of next-generation high-performance HEAs, underpinning their potential industrial utilization.

Galvanizing is an important industrial process to improve the corrosion resistance of advanced high strength steels (AHSSs) that are vital for automotive industries. During galvanizing, nanoscale intermetallic phases with complex crystal structures are formed at the interface between the steel substrate and the zinc overlay. To better understand the nanoscale structures and the interfacial properties between the intermetallics, in this work, we develop a second nearest neighbor (2NN) Fe–Al–Zn ternary Modified Embedded Atom Method (MEAM) potential to describe the crystal structures of the intermetallics, i.e. Fe3Al8, Fe4Zn9 and FeZn13 and to calculate the interfacial structure and energy between them. The developed MEAM potential describes well the complex crystal structures and can be used to investigate the interfacial properties that are difficult to obtain from experiments. The Fe4Zn9, FeZn13 surface energies; the Fe–Fe4Zn9, Fe–FeZn13, Fe3Al8–FeZn13 interfacial energies; and the work of adhesion are calculated with the developed MEAM potential. The results show that FeZn13 crystal orientation has an insignificant effect on the FeZn13 surface energy and the Fe–FeZn13 interfacial energy. A negative interfacial energy is obtained for the Fe–Fe4Zn9 and the Fe–FeZn13 interface. The lowest interfacial energy is obtained in the {100}Fe case. The interfacial energy of Fe3Al8–FeZn13 depends on the surface termination of Fe3Al8 and FeZn13. A low interfacial energy is obtained when the surface termination of Fe3Al8 and FeZn13 are both Fe rich. In contrast, when the surface termination of Fe3Al8 is Al rich or the surface termination of FeZn13 is Zn rich, no low energy, stable interface can be formed between the two phases.

Microcapsule self-healing has become popular for microcrack repairing in resin mineral composites, and the cracking performance of microcapsule directly affect their repair efficiency on the matrix material. In this study, the problem of how the volume of microcapsule core affects the cracking performance of microcapsule is addressed. Based on the extended finite element method, the representative volume element (RVE) considering the volume of microcapsule core is established by combining the cohesive zone model and the fluid cavity model. On this basis, a numerical simulation study of the cracking performance of RVE with different volumes of microcapsule core under dynamic loading is conducted to investigate the triggered cracking process of the fully filled and incompletely filled microcapsules besides their cracking behavior, respectively. This study provides a reference for the preparation of microcapsules and the numerical simulation of microcapsule mechanical properties.

Anharmonic inter-atomic potential ∼|x|n , n > 1, has been used in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of stress dynamics of FCC oriented crystal. The model of the chain of masses and springs is found as a convenient and accurate description of simulation results, with masses representing the crystallographic planes. The dynamics of oscillations of two planes is found analytically to be given by Euler’s beta functions, and its scaling with non-linearity parameter and amplitude of oscillations, or applied shear pressure is discussed on examples of time dependencies of displacements, velocities, and forces acting on masses (planes). The dynamics of stress penetration from the surface of the sample with multiply-planes (an anharmonic crystal) towards its interior is confirmed to be given exactly as a series of Bessel functions, when n = 2 (Schrödinger and Pater solutions). When n ≠ 2 the stress dynamics (wave propagation) in bulk material remains qualitatively of the same nature as in the harmonic case. In particular, results suggest that the quasi-linear relationship between frequency and the wave number is preserved. The speed of the transverse sound component, dependent on sound wave amplitude, is found to be a strongly decreasing function of n. The results are useful in the analysis of any MD simulations under pressure, as they help to understand the dynamics of pressure retarded effects, as well as help design the proper methodology of performing MD simulations in cases such as, for instance, studies of the dynamics of dislocations.

Conducting optimization calculations for thermoelectric performance can be beneficial in guiding the direction of further experimental work. In our study, we utilize a combination of the first principle, Boltzmann transport and restructured single parabolic band model to investigate the half-doped semiconductors based on manganite. Ca0.5La0.5−x Bi x MnO3 (x = 0, 0.25) as samples shows the power factor (PF) optimum value of 30% and 69% for x = 0 and 0.25, respectively at a temperature of 800 K. In addition, both samples show two to three orders of magnitude smaller lattice thermal conductivity than their electronic thermal conductivity. This excludes complex phononic transport mechanisms from the calculation of the figure of merit (ZT). The ZT calculations of Ca0.5L0.5MnO3 and Ca0.5L0.5−x Bi x MnO3 are corrected by the ratio of the transport relaxation time of electrical conductivity to the transport relaxation time of electronic thermal conductivity by the Lorenz number, resulting in ZT values of 0.063 and 0.327 at a temperature of 800 K, respectively.

The new magnetic mechanism and optical properties of Ga vacancies and Hi interstitial in the GaN: Be/Mg/Ca system have not been fully understood, and the use of first principles can solve this problem. The effect of point defects on the magnetic mechanism and optical properties of the GaN: Be/Mg/Ca system was investigated using the first nature principle of the hybridized generalized HSE06 method. Results show that all doped systems have N2− ions in addition to N3− ions, and N2− ions have the dual property of itinerant electrons in the off-domain (donor) and of local electrons (acceptor). The magnetism of magnetic doped systems is generated by the hybrid coupling of Ga4s and N2− 2p states. In comparison with the Ga34MN36 (M = Be/Ca) system, the magnetic moments of Ga34MHiN36 (M = Be/Ca) system are reduced after doping with Hi interstitial. The magnetic properties of the Ga34MgN36 system can be regulated by the presence or absence of Hi interstitial, which is advantageous as a magnetic switch. The absorption spectral distribution of the Ga34MgHiN36 system extends to the mid-infrared optical region. This material has some reference value as infrared thermophotovoltaic cells, infrared photodetectors, or infrared semiconductor lasers.

The effects of surface elasticity and surface viscoelasticity as well as surface tension on the deformation of solids with liquid inclusions are investigated using a finite element (FE) method. Both surface tension and surface elasticity stiffen the solids with liquid inclusions. The surface tension in elastic capillary number is replaced with surface Young’s modulus to define the second elastic capillary number. The aspect ratio of the included liquids is used to indicate the stiffening effect for both numbers. A smaller aspect ratio corresponds to a larger stiffening effect. In a typical FE analysis, when either number is 1 and the applied strain is 4%, the aspect ratio decreases by 7.4% due to surface tension and 2.6% due to surface elasticity. Compared to surface tension, surface elasticity has a similar but smaller influence on the deformation of solids with liquid inclusions. Extensive FE calculations are performed to establish the fitting formula for the aspect ratio as a function of elastic capillary number, the second elastic capillary number, and the applied strain. Surface viscoelasticity is modelled in the FE method by converting surface viscoelastic properties into the viscoelastic properties of the equivalent shell. The time-dependent aspect ratio due to surface viscoelasticity is presented and FE results show the same trend as those calculated from the approximated theory. The internal pressure of the included liquid is obtained from FE analysis and is compared with the theoretical estimation employing the Young–Laplace equation.