Phase-Field Modeling of Aluminum Foam Based on Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Abstract

This paper presents a phase-field modelPhase-field model that is consistent with the multiphase systemMultiphase system of aluminum foam to predict the microstructural evolution involved in the foaming process of the aluminum foamAluminum foam and its final microstructure. The phase-field model characterizes the microstructure of the foam material with a set of material constants calibrated through experiments and molecular dynamicsMolecular dynamics (MD) calculations. A series of MD simulations were performed on a group of aluminum and silicon (Al–Si) atoms, whose potentials were defined using the angular dependent potentialAngular dependent potential (ADP). The MDMolecular dynamics results such as diffusion and specific heat capacity are used as input parameters for the developed phase-field modelPhase-field model. The developed phase field model will predict the microstructural evolution of metal foams during foaming processes and will be further used to establish a multiscale computational framework that bridges the process, structure, property and performance of metal foams.