Computation of pressure components due to Class II force fields
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Blast Quantification Using Hopkinson Pressure Bars
Published on: July 5, 2016
1SGI, Eagan, Minnesota 55121, USA. jec@mayo.edu
Abstract:
It has been shown that purely angle dependent terms in a force field do not contribute to the total pressure in a molecular simulation. However, this is not the case for the individual components of the pressure tensor, and is also untrue for crossterms in the force field including bond stretch. In this article, we show that virial contributions to the pressure tensor are easily computed in terms of bond distance vectors and atom forces for the bond topologies present in a Class II force field. Results from a simulation of a phospholipid biomembrane using the cff97 force field show that angle and torsional crossterms make a significant contribution to the pressure tensor.
Related Concept Videos
Basic Equation for Pressure Field
Pressure Variation in a Fluid at Rest
When measuring pressure at two different levels within the fluid, the difference in pressure...
Pressure of Fluids
Fluid Pressure over Flat Plate of Variable Width
The pressure distribution on the plate can be calculated by determining the force that acts on a differential area strip of the plate. Thus, the magnitude of the force is equal to the...
Concept of Pressure at a Point
In a fluid at rest, pressure acts equally in...
Applications of Integration to Find Hydrostatic Pressure
