Many systems where a liquid metal is in contact with a polycrystalline solid exhibit deep liquid grooves where the grain boundary meets the solid-liquid interface. For example, liquid Ga quickly penetrates deep into grain boundaries in Al, leading to intergranular fracture under very small stresses. We report on a series of molecular dynamics simulations of liquid Ga in contact with an Al bicrystal. We identify the mechanism for liquid metal embrittlement, develop a new model for it, and show that is in excellent agreement with both simulation and experimental data.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0702378,
title = {Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Ga Penetration along Grain Boundaries in Al: a Dislocation Climb Mechanism},
author = {Ho-Seok Nam and D. J. Srolovitz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0702378},
year = {2009}
}