Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Formation and evolution of metastable bcc phase during solidification of liquid Ag: a molecular dynamics simulation
Ze-An Tian1, Rang-Su Liu, Cai-Xing Zheng
1School of Physics and Microelectronic Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
Abstract:
On the basis of the quantum Sutton-Chen potential, the rapid solidification processes of liquid silver have been studied by molecular dynamics simulation for four cooling rates. By means of several analysis methods, the competitions and transitions between microstructures during the cooling processes have been analyzed intensively. It is found that there are two phase transitions in all simulation processes. The first one is from liquid state to metastable (transitional) body-centered cubic (bcc) phase. The initial crystallization temperature T(ic) increases with the decrease of the cooling rate. The second one is from the transitional bcc phase to the final solid phase. This study validates the Ostwald's step rule and provides evidence for the prediction that the metastable bcc phase forms first from liquid. Further analyses reveal that the final solid at 273 K can be a mixture of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) microstructures with various proportions of the two, and the slower the cooling rate is, the higher proportion the fcc structure occupies.
Related Concept Videos
Solid–Solid Solutions
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability. Many...
Molecular and Ionic Solids
Molecular Solids
Molecular crystalline solids, such as ice, sucrose (table sugar), and iodine, are solids that are composed of neutral molecules as their constituent units. These molecules are held together by weak intermolecular forces such as London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, or hydrogen bonds, which...
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Liquid–Solid Solutions
Bonding in Metals

