The P‐V‐T equation of state and thermodynamic properties of liquid iron

Abstract

AbstractThe equation of state (EoS) and thermodynamic properties of non‐magnetic liquid iron were investigated from energy (E)‐pressure (P)‐volume (V)‐temperature (T) relationships calculated by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations at 60–420 GPa and 4000–7000 K. Its internally consistent thermodynamic and elastic properties, in particular, density, adiabatic bulk modulus, and P wave velocity, were then analyzed. Compared to the seismological data of the Earth's outer core, pure liquid iron is found to have an 8–10% larger density and 3–10% larger bulk modulus than the Earth's values. Results also show that the P wave velocity of liquid iron has marginal temperature dependence as the bulk sound velocity of solid iron. The new EoS model and thermodynamic properties of liquid iron may serve as fundamental data for the thermochemical modeling of the Earth's core.