Alejandro Strachan

Thermal decomposition of RDX from reactive molecular dynamics

We use the recently developed reactive force field ReaxFF with molecular dynamics to study thermal induced chemistry in RDX [cyclic-[CH(2)N(NO(2))](3)] at various temperatures and densities. We find that the time evolution of the potential energy can be described reasonably well with a single exponential function from which we obtain an overall characteristic time of decomposition that increases with decreasing density and shows an Arrhenius temperature dependence. These characteristic timescales are in reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental measurements in a similar energetic material, HMX [cyclic-[CH(2)N(NO(2))](4)]. Our simulations show that the equilibrium population of CO and CO(2) (as well as their time evolution) depend strongly of density: at low density almost all carbon atoms form CO molecules; as the density increases larger aggregates of carbon appear leading to a C deficient gas phase and the appearance of CO(2) molecules. The equilibrium populations of N(2) and H(2)O are more insensitive with respect to density and form in the early stages of the decomposition process with similar timescales.

Nonequilibrium melting and crystallization of a model Lennard-Jones system

Nonequilibrium melting and crystallization of a model Lennard-Jones system were investigated with molecular dynamics simulations to quantify the maximum superheating/supercooling at fixed pressure, and over-pressurization/over-depressurization at fixed temperature. The temperature and pressure hystereses were found to be equivalent with regard to the Gibbs free energy barrier for nucleation of liquid or solid. These results place upper bounds on hysteretic effects of solidification and melting in high heating- and strain-rate experiments such as shock wave loading and release. The authors also demonstrate that the equilibrium melting temperature at a given pressure can be obtained directly from temperatures at the maximum superheating and supercooling on the temperature hysteresis; this approach, called the hysteresis method, is a conceptually simple and computationally inexpensive alternative to solid-liquid coexistence simulation and thermodynamic integration methods, and should be regarded as a general method. We also found that the extent of maximum superheating/supercooling is weakly pressure dependent, and the solid-liquid interfacial energy increases with pressure. The Lindemann fractional root-mean-squared displacement of solid and liquid at equilibrium and extreme metastable states is quantified, and is predicted to remain constant (0.14) at high pressures for solid at the equilibrium melting temperature.

Thermal Decomposition of Condensed-Phase Nitromethane from Molecular Dynamics from ReaxFF Reactive Dynamics

We studied the thermal decomposition and subsequent reaction of the energetic material nitromethane (CH(3)NO(2)) using molecular dynamics with ReaxFF, a first principles-based reactive force field. We characterize the chemistry of liquid and solid nitromethane at high temperatures (2000-3000 K) and density 1.97 g/cm(3) for times up to 200 ps. At T = 3000 K the first reaction in the decomposition of nitromethane is an intermolecular proton transfer leading to CH(3)NOOH and CH(2)NO(2). For lower temperatures (T = 2500 and 2000 K) the first reaction during decomposition is often an isomerization reaction involving the scission of the C-N bond the formation of a C-O bond to form methyl nitrate (CH(3)ONO). Also at very early times we observe intramolecular proton transfer events. The main product of these reactions is H(2)O which starts forming following those initiation steps. The appearance of H(2)O marks the beginning of the exothermic chemistry. Recent quantum-mechanics-based molecular dynamics simulations on the chemical reactions and time scales for decomposition of a crystalline sample heated to T = 3000 K for a few picoseconds are in excellent agreement with our results, providing an important, direct validation of ReaxFF.

Atomistic simulations of shock-induced alloying reactions in Ni∕Al nanolaminates

We employ molecular dynamics simulations with a first principles-based many body potential to characterize the exothermic alloying reactions of nanostructured Ni/Al multilayers induced by shock loading. We introduce a novel technique that captures both the initial shock transit as well as the subsequent longer-time-scale Ni3Al alloy formation. Initially, the softer Al layers are shock heated to a higher temperature than the harder Ni layers as a result of a series of shock reflections from the impedance-mismatched interfaces. Once initiated, the highly exothermic alloying reactions can propagate in a self-sustained manner by mass and thermal diffusion. We also characterize the role of voids on the initiation of alloying. The interaction of the shock wave with the voids leads not only to significant local heating (hot spots) but also directly aids the intermixing between Al and Ni; both of these phenomena contribute to a significant acceleration of the alloying reactions.

Role of strain on electronic and mechanical response of semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers: An ab-initio study

We characterize the electronic structure and elasticity of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M  =  Mo, W, Sn, Hf and X  =  S, Se, Te) based on 2H and 1T structures using fully relativistic first principles calculations based on density functional theory. We focus on the role of strain on the band structure and band alignment across the series of materials. We find that strain has a significant effect on the band gap; a biaxial strain of 1% decreases the band gap in the 2H structures, by as a much as 0.2  eV in MoS2 and WS2, while increasing it for the 1T cases. These results indicate that strain is a powerful avenue to modulate their properties; for example, strain enables the formation of, otherwise impossible, broken gap heterostructures within the 2H class. These calculations provide insight and quantitative information for the rational development of heterostructures based on this class of materials accounting for the effect of strain.

Normal modes and frequencies from covariances in molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo simulations

We propose a simple method to obtain normal modes (NMs) and their characteristic frequencies from molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo simulations at any temperature. The resulting NM are consistent with the vibrational density of states (DOS) (every feature of the DOS can be attributed to one or few NMs). At low temperatures they coincide with the ones obtained from the Hessian matrix. We define the NMs (rho(i)) by imposing the condition that their velocities be uncorrelated to each other: rho(i)(t)rho(j)(t) proportional, variant delta(ij), where denotes time average and delta(ij) is Kroneckers delta. With this definition the modes are the eigenvectors of the matrix K(ij)(v)=1/2 [i, j=1,...,3N (N being the number of atoms); m are masses and v atomic velocities]. The eigenvalues of K(ij)(v), lambda(i)(v), represent the kinetic energy in each NM. The ratio between the eigenvalues (lambda(i)(v)) and those obtained using positions (lambda(i)(r)), accelerations (lambda(i)(a)) in K(ij)(v) instead of velocities are a very good approximation to the mode frequencies: 2pinu(i) approximately (lambda(i)(v)/lambda(i)(x))((1/2)) approximately (lambda(i)(a)/lambda(i)(x))((1/4)). We demonstrate the new method using with two cases: an isolated water molecule and a crystalline polymer.

Molecular dynamics simulations of 1/2 a〈1 1 1〉 screw dislocation in Ta

Using a new, first principles based, embedded-atom-method (EAM) potential for tantalum (Ta), we have carried out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the core structure, core energy and Peierls energy barrier and stress for the 1/2 a� 111 � screw dislocation. Equilibrated core structures were obtained by relaxation of dislocation quadrupoles with periodic boundary conditions. We found that the equilibrium dislocation core has three-fold symmetry and spreads out in three � 112 � directions on { 110 } planes. Core energy per Burgers vector b was determined to be 1.36 eV/b. We studied dislocation motion and annihilation via molecular dynamics simulations of a periodic dislocation dipole cell, with � 112 � and � 110 � dipole orientation. In both cases the dislocations move in zigzag on primary { 110 } planes. Atoms forming the dislocation cores are distinguished based on their atomic energy. In this way, we can accurately define the core energy and its position not only for equilibrium configurations but also during dislocation motion. Peierls energy barrier was computed to be ∼0.07 eV/b with a Peierls stress of ∼0.03µ, where µ is the bulk shear modulus of perfect crystal. The preferred slipping system at low temperature is � 112 � directions and { 110 } planes.

Coupled Thermal and Electromagnetic Induced Decomposition in the Molecular Explosive αHMX; A Reactive Molecular Dynamics Study

We use molecular dynamics simulations with the reactive potential ReaxFF to investigate the initial reactions and subsequent decomposition in the high-energy-density material α-HMX excited thermally and via electric fields at various frequencies. We focus on the role of insult type and strength on the energy increase for initial decomposition and onset of exothermic chemistry. We find both of these energies increase with the increasing rate of energy input and plateau as the processes become athermal for high loading rates. We also find that the energy increase required for exothermic reactions and, to a lesser extent, that for initial chemical reactions depend on the insult type. Decomposition can be induced with relatively weak insults if the appropriate modes are targeted but increasing anharmonicities during heating lead to fast energy transfer and equilibration between modes that limit the effect of loading type.

Phonon thermal conductivity in nanolaminated composite metals via molecular dynamics

We use nonequilibrium molecular dynamics to characterize the phonon contribution to thermal conduction of Al nanostructures and the role of interfaces in metallic nanocomposites. We characterize the lattice thermal conductivity of pure Al samples as a function of size and temperature from which we obtain, using kinetic theory, the temperature dependence of the phonon mean free path. We also calculated the thermal conductivity of AlAl* and AlNi nanolaminate composites (where Al* differs from Al only in its mass) for various periodic sizes and compositions as well as the associated interfacial thermal resistivities (ITRs). We find that simple, additive models provide good estimates of the thermal conductivities of the nanocomposites in terms of those of the individual components and interfaces if size effects on the behavior of the individual components are considered. The additive models provide important insight to the decrease in thermal conductivity of the nanolaminates as their periodicity (thickness of a bilayer) is reduced to a size comparable with the phonon mean free path and break down when this characteristic size is reduced further. At this point the system can be regarded as homogeneous and the conductivity increases with decreasing periodicity of the laminates. We also observe that the ITR depends on the direction of the heat flux; this is the first molecular level characterization of such thermal diode behavior in a realistic three dimensional material.

A multiscale approach for modeling crystalline solids

In this paper we present a modeling approach to bridge the atomistic with macroscopic scales in crystalline materials. The methodology combines identification and modeling of the controlling unit processes at microscopic level with the direct atomistic determination of fundamental material properties. These properties are computed using a many body Force Field derived from ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations. This approach is exercised to describe the mechanical response of high-purity Tantalum single crystals, including the effect of temperature and strain-rate on the hardening rate. The resulting atomistically informed model is found to capture salient features of the behavior of these crystals such as: the dependence of the initial yield point on temperature and strain rate; the presence of a marked stage I of easy glide, specially at low temperatures and high strain rates; the sharp onset of stage II hardening and its tendency to shift towards lower strains, and eventually disappear, as the temperature increases or the strain rate decreases; the parabolic stage II hardening at low strain rates or high temperatures; the stage II softening at high strain rates or low temperatures; the trend towards saturation at high strains; the temperature and strain-rate dependence of the saturation stress; and the orientation dependence of the hardening rate.