Interaction properties between molten metal and quartz by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract The interaction properties between metal droplet and substrate play a crucial role in additive manufacturing technology based on depositing microdroplet. However, few studies have focused on the wettability and slippage between them due to the experimental observation challenge. In this work, molecular dynamics simulation is employed to investigate the effects of metal type, temperature, feature size, and driving force on contact angle and slip length and clarify their influence mechanisms. The results suggest that Ag has the smallest contact angle and slip length among Cu, Ag, and Au, and the more intense interaction between metal and quartz results in a smaller contact angle and slip length. The temperature has a weak influence on contact angle and slip length, and both of them decrease slightly with increasing temperature. The slip length rises rapidly and then trends to a constant when the feature size becomes large, which can be interpreted by the change in apparent viscosity of molten metal near the quartz. Furthermore, the slip length is proportional to the driving force, while it will reach a plateau when the driving force is considerably large. These conclusions can provide theoretical guidance and reference for continuous medium simulation.