Abstract: New embedded-atom method potentials for the ternary palladium–silver–hydrogen system are developed by extending a previously developed palladium–hydrogen potential. The ternary potentials accurately capture the heat of mixing and structural properties associated with solid solution alloys of palladium–silver. Stable hydrides are produced with properties that smoothly transition across the compositions. Additions of silver to palladium are predicted to alter the properties of the hydrides by decreasing the miscibility gap and increasing the likelihood of hydrogen atoms occupying tetrahedral interstitial sites over octahedral interstitial sites.

Abstract: New embedded-atom method potentials for the ternary palladium–silver–hydrogen system are developed by extending a previously developed palladium–hydrogen potential. The ternary potentials accurately capture the heat of mixing and structural properties associated with solid solution alloys of palladium–silver. Stable hydrides are produced with properties that smoothly transition across the compositions. Additions of silver to palladium are predicted to alter the properties of the hydrides by decreasing the miscibility gap and increasing the likelihood of hydrogen atoms occupying tetrahedral interstitial sites over octahedral interstitial sites.

Abstract: Al-Based Al–Cu alloys have a very high strength to density ratio, and are therefore important materials for transportation systems including vehicles and aircrafts. These alloys also appear to have a high resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, and as a result, are being explored for hydrogen related applications. To enable fundamental studies of mechanical behavior of Al–Cu alloys under hydrogen environments, we have developed an Al–Cu–H bond-order potential according to the formalism implemented in the molecular dynamics code LAMMPS. Our potential not only fits well to properties of a variety of elemental and compound configurations (with coordination varying from 1 to 12) including small clusters, bulk lattices, defects, and surfaces, but also passes stringent molecular dynamics simulation tests that sample chaotic configurations. Careful studies verified that this Al–Cu–H potential predicts structural property trends close to experimental results and quantum-mechanical calculations; in addition, it properly captures Al–Cu, Al–H, and Cu–H phase diagrams and enables simulations of H2 dissociation, chemisorption, and absorption on Al–Cu surfaces.

Abstract: Second nearest-neighbor modified embedded-atom method (MEAM) interatomic potentials for the Al-H and Ni-H binary systems have been developed on the basis of previously developed MEAM potentials of pure Al, Ni, and H. The potentials can describe various fundamental physical properties of the relevant binary alloys (structural, thermodynamic, defect, and dynamic properties of metastable hydrides or hydrogen in face-centered cubic solid solutions) in good agreement with experiments or first-principles calculations. The applicability of the present potentials to atomic level investigations of dynamic behavior of hydrogen atoms in metal membranes is also discussed.

Abstract: We report on the development of an angular-dependent interatomic potential for hydrogen and the aluminum-hydrogen system. The potential reproduces properties of diatomic hydrogen gas, accurate solution energies of hydrogen atoms in crystalline Al, the energetic preference of the tetrahedral interstitial site occupation over octahedral, the hydrogen diffusion barrier in Al, and a number of other properties. Some of the results predicted by the potential have been tested by molecular dynamics simulations. It is suggested that the new potential can be used in atomistic simulations of the effect of dissolved hydrogen on deformation and fracture of Al, a problem which is relevant to hydrogen-induced degradation of Al alloys.

Abstract: This paper addresses the energy associated with the trapping of hydrogen to defects in a nickel lattice. Several dislocations and grain boundaries which occur in nickel are studied. The dislocations include an edge, a screw, and a Lomer dislocation in the locked configuration, i.e. a Lomer-Cottrell lock (LCL). For both the edge and screw dislocations, the maximum trap site energy is approximately 0.1 eV occurring in the region where the lattice is in tension approximately 3-4 angstroms from the dislocation core. For the Lomer-Cottrell lock, the maximum binding energy is 0.33 eV and is located at the core of the a/6(110) dislocation. Several low-index coincident site lattice grain boundaries are investigated, specifically the Sigma 3(112), Sigma 9(221) and Sigma 11(113) tilt boundaries. The boundaries all show a maximum binding energy of approximately 0.25 eV at the tilt boundary. Relaxation of the boundary structures produces an asymmetric atomic structure for both the Sigma 3 and Sigma 9 boundaries and a symmetric structure for the Sigma 11 tilt boundary. The results of this study can be compared to recent experimental studies showing that the activation energy for hydrogen-initiated failure is approximately 0.3-0.4 eV in the Fe-based superalloy IN903. From the results of this comparison it can be concluded that the embrittlement process is likely associated with the trapping of hydrogen to grain boundaries and Lomer-Cottrell locks.

Abstract: A semi-empirical methodology for predicting the permeability of hydrogen in metallic alloys is proposed by combining an atomistic simulation and a thermodynamic calculation. An atomistic simulation based on a modified embedded-atom method interatomic potential and a CALPHAD-type thermodynamic calculation technique was used to predict the diffusivity and solubility of hydrogen, respectively. The approach was applied to the prediction of the hydrogen permeability in V–Al and V–Ni alloys that are promising for non-Pd hydrogen separation membranes. The predicted permeability of hydrogen decreases, as Al or Ni concentration increases in the alloys. The predicted permeability is in quite good agreement with experimental data available in literature, successfully reproducing the overall trend for the effect of alloying elements, which enables an alloy design of metallic hydrogen permeable membranes.

Abstract: A potential function is presented that can be used to model both chemical reactions and intermolecular interactions in condensed-phase hydrocarbon systems such as liquids, graphite, and polymers. This potential is derived from a well-known dissociable hydrocarbon force field, the reactive empirical bond-order potential. The extensions include an adaptive treatment of the nonbonded and dihedral-angle interactions, which still allows for covalent bonding interactions. Torsional potentials are introduced via a novel interaction potential that does not require a fixed hybridization state. The resulting model is intended as a first step towards a transferable, empirical potential capable of simulating chemical reactions in a variety of environments. The current implementation has been validated against structural and energetic properties of both gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, and is expected to prove useful in simulations of hydrocarbon liquids, thin films, and other saturated hydrocarbon systems.

Abstract: We present an Atomic Cluster Expansion (ACE) machine learned potential developed for high-fidelity atomistic simulations of hydrocarbons, targeting pressures and temperatures near and above supercritical fluid regimes for molecular fluids. A diverse set of stoichiometries were covered in training, including 1:0 (pure carbon), 1:4 (methane), and 1:1 (benzene), and rich bonding environments sampled at supercritical temperatures, hydrogen rich, reactive mixtures where metastable stoichiometries arise, including 1:2 (ethylene) and 1:3 (ethane). A high-fidelity training database was constructed by performing large-scale quantum molecular dynamic simulations [density functional theory (DFT) MD] of diamond, graphite, methane, and benzene. A novel approach to selecting structures from DFT MD is also presented, which allows for the rapid selection of unique DFT MD frames from complex trajectories. Comparisons to DFT and experimental data demonstrate that the presented ACE potential accurately reproduces isotherms, carbon melting curves, radial distribution functions, and shock Hugoniots for carbon and hydrocarbon systems for pressures up to 100 GPa and temperatures up to 6000 K for hydrocarbon systems and up to 9000 K for pure carbon systems. This work delivers a potential that can be used for accurate, large-scale simulations of shocked hydrocarbons and demonstrates a methodology for fitting and validating machine learning interatomic potentials to complex molecular environments, which can be applied to energetic materials in future works.

Abstract: We study the performance of eleven reactive force fields (ReaxFF), which can be used to study sp² carbon systems. Among them a new hybrid ReaxFF is proposed combining two others and introducing two different types of C atoms. The advantages of that potential are discussed. We analyze the behavior of ReaxFFs with respect to 1) the structural and mechanical properties of graphene, its response to strain and phonon dispersion relation; 2) the energetics of (n, 0) and (n, n) carbon nanotubes (CNTs), their mechanical properties and response to strain up to fracture; 3) the energetics of the icosahedral C₆₀ fullerene and the 40 C₄₀ fullerene isomers. Seven of them provide not very realistic predictions for graphene, which made us focusing on the remaining, which provide reasonable results for 1) the structure, energy and phonon band structure of graphene, 2) the energetics of CNTs versus their diameter and 3) the energy of C₆₀ and the trend of the energy of the C₄₀ fullerene isomers versus their pentagon adjacencies, in accordance with density functional theory (DFT) calculations and/or experimental data. Moreover, the predicted fracture strain, ultimate tensile strength and strain values of CNTs are inside the range of experimental values, although overestimated with respect to DFT. However, they underestimate the Young’s modulus, overestimate the Poisson’s ratio of both graphene and CNTs and they display anomalous behavior of the stress - strain and Poisson’s ratio - strain curves, whose origin needs further investigation.

Abstract: To investigate the initial chemical events associated with high-temperature gas-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons, we have expanded the ReaxFF reactive force field training set to include additional transition states and chemical reactivity of systems relevant to these reactions and optimized the force field parameters against a quantum mechanics (QM)-based training set. To validate the ReaxFF potential obtained after parameter optimization, we performed a range of NVT−MD simulations on various hydrocarbon/O2 systems. From simulations on methane/O2, o-xylene/O2, propene/O2, and benzene/O2 mixtures, we found that ReaxFF obtains the correct reactivity trend (propene > o-xylene > methane > benzene), following the trend in the C−H bond strength in these hydrocarbons. We also tracked in detail the reactions during a complete oxidation of isolated methane, propene, and o-xylene to a CO/CO2/H2O mixture and found that the pathways predicted by ReaxFF are in agreement with chemical intuition and our QM results. We observed that the predominant initiation reaction for oxidation of methane, propene, and o-xylene under fuel lean conditions involved hydrogen abstraction of the methyl hydrogen by molecular oxygen forming hydroperoxyl and hydrocarbon radical species. While under fuel rich conditions with a mixture of these hydrocarbons, we observed different chemistry compared with the oxidation of isolated hydrocarbons including a change in the type of initiation reactions, which involved both decomposition of the hydrocarbon or attack by other radicals in the system. Since ReaxFF is capable of simulating complicated reaction pathways without any preconditioning, we believe that atomistic modeling with ReaxFF provides a useful method for determining the initial events of oxidation of hydrocarbons under extreme conditions and can enhance existing combustion models.

Abstract: In this work, we developed an interatomic potential for saturated hydrocarbons using the modified embedded-atom method (MEAM), a reactive semi-empirical many-body potential based on density functional theory and pair potentials. We parameterized the potential by fitting to a large experimental and first-principles (FP) database consisting of (1) bond distances, bond angles, and atomization energies at 0 K of a homologous series of alkanes and their select isomers from methane to n-octane, (2) the potential energy curves of H2, CH, and C2 diatomics, (3) the potential energy curves of hydrogen, methane, ethane, and propane dimers, i.e., (H2)2, (CH4)2, (C2H6)2, and (C3H8)2, respectively, and (4) pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) data of a dense high-pressure methane system with the density of 0.5534 g cc−1. We compared the atomization energies and geometries of a range of linear alkanes, cycloalkanes, and free radicals calculated from the MEAM potential to those calculated by other commonly used reactive potentials for hydrocarbons, i.e., second-generation reactive empirical bond order (REBO) and reactive force field (ReaxFF). MEAM reproduced the experimental and/or FP data with accuracy comparable to or better than REBO or ReaxFF. The experimental PVT data for a relatively large series of methane, ethane, propane, and butane systems with different densities were predicted reasonably well by the MEAM potential. Although the MEAM formalism has been applied to atomic systems with predominantly metallic bonding in the past, the current work demonstrates the promising extension of the MEAM potential to covalently bonded molecular systems, specifically saturated hydrocarbons and saturated hydrocarbon-based polymers. The MEAM potential has already been parameterized for a large number of metallic unary, binary, ternary, carbide, nitride, and hydride systems, and extending it to saturated hydrocarbons provides a reliable and transferable potential for atomistic/molecular studies of complex material phenomena involving hydrocarbon–metal or polymer–metal interfaces, polymer–metal nanocomposites, fracture and failure in hydrocarbon-based polymers, etc. The latter is especially true since MEAM is a reactive potential that allows for dynamic bond formation and bond breaking during simulation. Our results show that MEAM predicts the energetics of two major chemical reactions for saturated hydrocarbons, i.e., breaking a C–C and a C–H bond, reasonably well. However, the current parameterization does not accurately reproduce the energetics and structures of unsaturated hydrocarbons and, therefore, should not be applied to such systems.

Abstract: The recently developed angular-dependent potential for pure iron was advanced to the interatomic potential of the Fe-Cr-H ternary system. The new potential allows to simulate Fe-Cr alloys for a wide range of compositions and different concentrations of hydrogen. The angular-dependent format of the model and the development procedure based on the machine learning approach allow to achieve a favorable balance between the computation cost and the reliability of the created parametrization. As part of potential validation, we performed a large number of tests of both the binary metallic alloys and hydrogen interactions. The applicability of the potential is demonstrated by large-scale simulations of hydrogen diffusion in the vicinity of crystal defects.

Abstract: Despite extensive studies in the past, deterioration of mechanical properties due to hydrogen environment exposure remains a serious problem for structural materials. More effective improvement of a material’s resilience requires advanced computational methods to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of the hydrogen effects. To enable accurate molecular dynamics (MD) studies of the hydrogen effects on metals, we have developed a high-fidelity analytical bond-order potential (BOP) for the copper–hydrogen binary system as a representative case. This potential is available through the publically available MD code LAMMPS. The potential parameters are optimized using an iterative process. First, the potential is fitted to static and reactive properties of a variety of elemental and binary configurations including small clusters and bulk lattices (with coordination varying from 1 to 12). Then the potential is put through a series of rigorous MD simulation tests (e.g., vapor deposition and solidification) that involve chaotic initial configurations. It is demonstrated that this Cu–H BOP not only gives structural and property trends close to those seen in experiments and quantum mechanical calculations, but also predicts the correct phase transformations and chemical reactions in direct MD simulations. The correct structural evolution from chaotic initial states strongly verifies the transferability of the potential. A highly transferable potential is the reason that a well-parameterized analytical BOP can enable MD simulations of metal-hydrogen interactions to reach a fidelity level not achieved in the past.

Abstract: A multi-scale study was carried out to quantify the effect of interstitial hydrogen concentration on plasticity in α-Fe. In this work, the influence of hydrogen on the screw dislocation glide behavior was examined across several length-scales. The insights obtained were integrated to provide an accurate continuum description for the effect of hydrogen on the dislocation based plasticity in polycrystalline α-Fe. At the outset of this work, a new Fe-H interatomic potential was formulated that enhanced the atomistic estimation of the variation in dislocation glide behavior in presence of hydrogen. Next, the dislocation core reconstruction observed due to the addition of hydrogen using atomistic simulations was validated with the help of large-scale DFT calculations based on the DFT-FE framework. Several atomistic simulations were carried out to comprehensively quantify the effect of hydrogen on the non-Schmid behavior exhibited during the dislocation glide in α-Fe. Finally, crystal plasticity simulations were carried out to understand the effect of hydrogen on the meso-scale deformation behavior of polycrystalline α-Fe.

Abstract: To understand the physics of hydrogen embrittlement at the atomic scale, a general-purpose neural network interatomic potential (NNIP) for the 𝛼-iron and hydrogen binary system is presented. It is trained using an extensive reference database produced by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The NNIP can properly describe the interactions of hydrogen with various defects in 𝛼-iron, such as vacancies, surfaces, grain boundaries, and dislocations; in addition to the basic properties of 𝛼-iron itself, the NNIP also handles the defect properties in 𝛼-iron, hydrogen behavior in 𝛼-iron, and hydrogen-hydrogen interactions in 𝛼-iron and in vacuum, including the hydrogen molecule formation and dissociation at the 𝛼-iron surface. These are superb challenges for the existing empirical interatomic potentials, like the embedded-atom method based potentials, for the 𝛼-iron and hydrogen binary system. In this study, the NNIP was applied to several key phenomena necessary for understanding hydrogen embrittlement, such as hydrogen charging and discharging to 𝛼-iron, hydrogen transportation in defective 𝛼-iron, hydrogen trapping and desorption at the defects, and hydrogen-assisted cracking at the grain boundary. Unlike the existing interatomic potentials, the NNIP simulations quantitatively described the atomistic details of hydrogen behavior in the defective 𝛼-iron system with DFT accuracy.

Abstract: We present a new many-body interatomic potential for H in body-centered cubic (bcc) Fe. The potential is developed based on extensive energetics and atomic configurations of an H atom and H-H interactions in Fe from density functional theory calculations. In detail, the potential is parameterized by fitting not only to a single H atom in the perfect bcc Fe lattice and to the properties of H trap binding to a vacancy and surfaces as being done by previous studies, but also to multiple H trapping to a vacancy and H-H interaction in Fe lattice. With such a fitting strategy, the developed potential outperforms existing potentials in its ability not only describing the behaviors of a single H atom in Fe, but also capturing the features of H-H interaction reliably, which is of key importance in revealing H behaviors in local H accumulation around dislocation cores, grain boundaries and crack tips.

Abstract: A modified embedded-atom method (MEAM) interatomic potential for the Fe-H binary system has been developed using previously developed MEAM potentials of Fe and H. The potential parameters were determined by fitting to experimental data on the dilute heat of solution of hydrogen in body-centered cubic (bcc) and face-centered cubic (fcc) Fe, the vacancy-hydrogen binding energy in bcc Fe, and to a first-principles calculation for the lattice parameter and bulk modulus of a hypothetical NaCl-type FeH. The potential accurately reproduces the known physical properties of hydrogen as an interstitial solute element in bcc and fcc Fe. The applicability of the potential to atomistic approaches for investigating interactions between hydrogen atoms and other defects such as vacancies, dislocations and grain boundaries, and also for investigating the effects of hydrogen on various deformation and mechanical behaviors of iron is demonstrated.

Abstract: Helium bubbles are a severe form of radiation damage that has been frequently observed. It would be possible to understand the complex processes that cause bubble formation if suitable interatomic potentials were available to enable molecular dynamics simulations. In this paper, Pd-H-He embedded-atom method potentials based on both Daw-Baskes and Finnis-Sinclair formalisms have been developed to enable modeling of He bubbles formed by the radioactive decay of tritium in Pd. Our potentials incorporate helium into an existing Pd-H potential while addressing two challenging paradoxes: (a) Interstitial He atoms can dramatically lower their energies by forming dimers and larger clusters in Pd but are only bound by weak van der Waals forces in the gas phase. (b) He atoms diffuse readily in Pd yet significantly distort the Pd lattice with large volume expansions. We demonstrate that both of our potentials reproduce density functional theory results for (b). However, the Daw-Baskes formalism fails to resolve paradox (a) because it cannot reproduce the experimental helium equation of state. We resolved this problem through a modification of the Finnis-Sinclair formalism in which a (fictitious) negative embedding charge density is produced by Pd at the He binding sites. In addition to molecular statics validation of static properties, molecular dynamics simulation tests establish that our Finnis-Sinclair potential leads to the nucleation of helium bubbles from an initial random distribution of helium interstitial atoms.

Abstract: In this work we developed an embedded atom method potential for large scale atomistic simulations in the ternary tungsten–hydrogen–helium (W–H–He) system, focusing on applications in the fusion research domain. Following available ab initio data, the potential reproduces key interactions between H, He and point defects in W and utilizes the most recent potential for matrix W. The potential is applied to assess the thermal stability of various H–He complexes of sizes too large for ab initio techniques. The results show that the dissociation of H–He clusters stabilized by vacancies will occur primarily by emission of hydrogen atoms and then by break-up of V–He complexes, indicating that H–He interaction does influence the release of hydrogen.

Abstract: In this work we developed an embedded atom method potential for large scale atomistic simulations in the ternary tungsten–hydrogen–helium (W–H–He) system, focusing on applications in the fusion research domain. Following available ab initio data, the potential reproduces key interactions between H, He and point defects in W and utilizes the most recent potential for matrix W. The potential is applied to assess the thermal stability of various H–He complexes of sizes too large for ab initio techniques. The results show that the dissociation of H–He clusters stabilized by vacancies will occur primarily by emission of hydrogen atoms and then by break-up of V–He complexes, indicating that H–He interaction does influence the release of hydrogen.

Abstract: We develop an interatomic potential intended for the study of Mg-H system using atomistic methods. The reported potential has an angular-dependent form and can be used for simulation of pure magnesium, as well as for consideration of binary cases including Mg and H. Summary of the performed tests on elastic, thermophysical and diffusional properties proves that the potential has a wide range of applicability. For example, it can be used to model phase transitions existing in pure magnesium (liquid <-> hcp and bcc <-> hcp). We also show how the model represents energies of different point defects and stacking faults in Mg. The primary purpose of the potential is the simulation of hydrogen behavior in magnesium. Here we show examples of the hydrogen diffusion and clusterization in hcp magnesium. Also, it is shown that the proposed potential reproduces stable structures for some of the existing magnesium hydrides: α-MgH2 (P42/mnm) and γ-MgH2 (Pbcn).

Abstract: Hydrogen ingress into a metal is a persistent source of embrittlement. Fracture surfaces are often intergranular, suggesting favorable cleave crack growth along grain boundaries (GBs) as one driver for embrittlement. Here, atomistic simulations are used to investigate the effects of segregated hydrogen on the behavior of cracks along various symmetric tilt grain boundaries in fcc Nickel. An atomistic potential for Ni–H is first recalibrated against new quantum level computations of the energy of H in specific sites within the NiΣ5(120)⟨100⟩ GB. The binding energy of H atoms to various atomic sites in the NiΣ3(111) (twin), NiΣ5(120)⟨100⟩, NiΣ99(557)⟨110⟩, and NiΣ9(221)⟨110⟩ GBs, and to various surfaces created by separating these GBs into two possible fracture surfaces, are computed and used to determine equilibrium H concentrations at bulk H concentrations typical of embrittlement in Ni. Mode I fracture behavior is then studied, examining the influence of H in altering the competition between dislocation emission (crack blunting; “ductile” behavior) and cleavage fracture (“brittle” behavior) for intergranular cracks. Simulation results are compared with theoretical predictions (Griffith theory for cleavage; Rice theory for emission) using the computed surface energies. The deformation behavior at the GBs is, however, generally complex and not as simple as cleavage or emission at a sharp crack tip, which is not unexpected due to the complexity of the GB structures. In cases predicted to emit dislocations from the crack tip, the presence of H atoms reduces the critical load for emission of the dislocations and no cleavage is found. In the cases predicted to cleave, the presence of H atoms reduces the cleavage stress intensity and makes cleavage easier, including NiΣ9(221)⟨110⟩ which emits dislocations in the absence of H. Aside from the one unusual NiΣ9(221)⟨110⟩ case, no tendency is found for H to cause a ductile-to-brittle transformation for cracks along GBs in Ni, either according to theory or simulation for initial equilibrium H segregation and with no, or limited, H diffusion near the newly-created fracture surfaces. The NiΣ3(111) twin boundary does not absorb H at all, suggesting that embrittlement is more difficult in materials with higher fraction of such twin boundaries, as found experimentally. Experimental observations of cleavage-like failure are thus presumably caused by mechanisms involving H diffusion or dynamic crack growth.

Abstract: Second nearest-neighbor modified embedded-atom method (MEAM) interatomic potentials for the Al-H and Ni-H binary systems have been developed on the basis of previously developed MEAM potentials of pure Al, Ni, and H. The potentials can describe various fundamental physical properties of the relevant binary alloys (structural, thermodynamic, defect, and dynamic properties of metastable hydrides or hydrogen in face-centered cubic solid solutions) in good agreement with experiments or first-principles calculations. The applicability of the present potentials to atomic level investigations of dynamic behavior of hydrogen atoms in metal membranes is also discussed.

Abstract: A semi-empirical methodology for predicting the permeability of hydrogen in metallic alloys is proposed by combining an atomistic simulation and a thermodynamic calculation. An atomistic simulation based on a modified embedded-atom method interatomic potential and a CALPHAD-type thermodynamic calculation technique was used to predict the diffusivity and solubility of hydrogen, respectively. The approach was applied to the prediction of the hydrogen permeability in V–Al and V–Ni alloys that are promising for non-Pd hydrogen separation membranes. The predicted permeability of hydrogen decreases, as Al or Ni concentration increases in the alloys. The predicted permeability is in quite good agreement with experimental data available in literature, successfully reproducing the overall trend for the effect of alloying elements, which enables an alloy design of metallic hydrogen permeable membranes.

Abstract: Palladium hydrides have important applications. However, the complex Pd–H alloy system presents a formidable challenge to developing accurate computational models. In particular, the separation of a Pd–H system to dilute (α) and concentrated (β) phases is a central phenomenon, but the capability of interatomic potentials to display this phase miscibility gap has been lacking. We have extended an existing palladium embedded-atom method potential to construct a new Pd–H embedded-atom method potential by normalizing the elemental embedding energy and electron density functions. The developed Pd–H potential reasonably well predicts the lattice constants, cohesive energies, and elastic constants for palladium, hydrogen, and PdHx phases with a variety of compositions. It ensures the correct hydrogen interstitial sites within the hydrides and predicts the phase miscibility gap. Preliminary molecular dynamics simulations using this potential show the correct phase stability, hydrogen diffusion mechanism, and mechanical response of the Pd–H system.

Abstract: An interatomic potential for the vanadium–hydrogen binary system has been developed based on the second nearest-neighbor modified embedded-atom method (2NN MEAM) potential formalism, in combination with the previously developed potentials for V and H. Also, first-principles calculation has been carried out to provide data on the physical properties of this system, which are necessary for the optimization of the potential parameters. The developed potential reasonably reproduces the fundamental physical properties (thermodynamic, diffusion, elastic and volumetric properties) of V-rich bcc solid solution and some of the vanadium hydride phases. The applicability of this potential to the development of V-based alloys for hydrogen applications is discussed.

Abstract: We describe the parameterization of a tungsten-hydrogen empirical potential designed for use with large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of highly irradiated tungsten containing hydrogen isotope atoms, and report test results. Particular attention has been paid to getting good elastic properties, including the relaxation volumes of small defect clusters, and to the interaction energy between hydrogen isotopes and typical irradiation-induced defects in tungsten. We conclude that the energy ordering of defects changes with the ratio of H atoms to point defects, indicating that this potential is suitable for exploring mechanisms of trap mutation, including vacancy loop to plate-like void transformations.

Abstract: A comparative study on hydrogen diffusion in amorphous and simple crystalline structures has been carried out using molecular dynamics simulations. The Cu-Zr bulk metallic glass (BMG) system is selected as the model material and a modified embedded-atom method (MEAM) interatomic potential for the Cu-Zr-H ternary system is developed for the atomistic simulation. It is found that the diffusivity of hydrogen in amorphous alloys is lower than that in open structured crystals but higher than that in close-packed crystals. The hydrogen diffusion in amorphous alloys is strongly hydrogen concentration dependent compared to crystals, increasing as the hydrogen content increases, and the Arrhenius plot of hydrogen diffusion in amorphous alloys shows an upward curvature. The reasons to rationalize all the findings are discussed based on the variety of energy state and migration energy barrier for interstitial sites in amorphous alloys.

Abstract: Water and silicon are chemically dissimilar substances with common physical properties. Their liquids display a temperature of maximum density, increased diffusivity on compression, and they form tetrahedral crystals and tetrahedral amorphous phases. The common feature to water, silicon, and carbon is the formation of tetrahedrally coordinated units. We exploit these similarities to develop a coarse-grained model of water (mW) that is essentially an atom with tetrahedrality intermediate between carbon and silicon. mW mimics the hydrogen-bonded structure of water through the introduction of a nonbond angular dependent term that encourages tetrahedral configurations. The model departs from the prevailing paradigm in water modeling: the use of long-ranged forces (electrostatics) to produce short-ranged (hydrogen-bonded) structure. mW has only short-range interactions yet it reproduces the energetics, density and structure of liquid water, and its anomalies and phase transitions with comparable or better accuracy than the most popular atomistic models of water, at less than 1% of the computational cost. We conclude that it is not the nature of the interactions but the connectivity of the molecules that determines the structural and thermodynamic behavior of water. The speedup in computing time provided by mW makes it particularly useful for the study of slow processes in deeply supercooled water, the mechanism of ice nucleation, wetting-drying transitions, and as a realistic water model for coarse-grained simulations of biomolecules and complex materials.