Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling
We present thermodynamic properties for liquid uranium obtained from classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and the first-principles theory. The coexisting phases method incorporated within MD modeling defines the melting temperature of uranium in good agreement with the experiment. The calcu...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Alexander Landa Per Söderlind John Roehling Joseph T. McKeown |
| author_facet | Alexander Landa Per Söderlind John Roehling Joseph T. McKeown |
| author_sort | Alexander Landa |
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| description | We present thermodynamic properties for liquid uranium obtained from classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and the first-principles theory. The coexisting phases method incorporated within MD modeling defines the melting temperature of uranium in good agreement with the experiment. The calculated melting enthalpy is in agreement with the experimental range. Classical MD simulations show that ionic contribution to the total specific heat of uranium does not depend on temperature. The density of states at the Fermi level, which is a crucial parameter in the determination of the electronic contribution to the total specific heat of liquid uranium, is calculated by ab initio all electron density functional theory (DFT) formalism applied to the atomic configurations generated by classical MD. The calculated specific heat of liquid uranium is compared with the previously calculated specific heat of solid γ-uranium at high temperatures. The liquid uranium cannot be supercooled below <i>T<sub>sc</sub></i> ≈ 800 K or approximately about 645 K below the calculated melting point, although, the self-diffusion coefficient approaches zero at <i>T<sub>D</sub></i> ≈ 700 K. Uranium metal can be supercooled about 1.5 times more than it can be overheated. The features of the temperature hysteresis are discussed. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-23aa44224f1d4fd1a7657d21d6865fce2025-01-24T13:21:16ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-01-0115289610.3390/app15020896Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio ModelingAlexander Landa0Per Söderlind1John Roehling2Joseph T. McKeown3Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551-0808, USALawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551-0808, USALawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551-0808, USALawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551-0808, USAWe present thermodynamic properties for liquid uranium obtained from classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and the first-principles theory. The coexisting phases method incorporated within MD modeling defines the melting temperature of uranium in good agreement with the experiment. The calculated melting enthalpy is in agreement with the experimental range. Classical MD simulations show that ionic contribution to the total specific heat of uranium does not depend on temperature. The density of states at the Fermi level, which is a crucial parameter in the determination of the electronic contribution to the total specific heat of liquid uranium, is calculated by ab initio all electron density functional theory (DFT) formalism applied to the atomic configurations generated by classical MD. The calculated specific heat of liquid uranium is compared with the previously calculated specific heat of solid γ-uranium at high temperatures. The liquid uranium cannot be supercooled below <i>T<sub>sc</sub></i> ≈ 800 K or approximately about 645 K below the calculated melting point, although, the self-diffusion coefficient approaches zero at <i>T<sub>D</sub></i> ≈ 700 K. Uranium metal can be supercooled about 1.5 times more than it can be overheated. The features of the temperature hysteresis are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/896uraniumspecific heatclassical molecular dynamicsLAMMPSfirst principlesdensity functional theory |
| spellingShingle | Alexander Landa Per Söderlind John Roehling Joseph T. McKeown Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling Applied Sciences uranium specific heat classical molecular dynamics LAMMPS first principles density functional theory |
| title | Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling |
| title_full | Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling |
| title_fullStr | Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling |
| title_short | Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling |
| title_sort | thermodynamics of liquid uranium from atomistic and ab initio modeling |
| topic | uranium specific heat classical molecular dynamics LAMMPS first principles density functional theory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/896 |
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