Prediction of the solid-liquid interface energy of a multicomponent metallic alloy via a solid-liquid interface sublattice model

Abstract Despite central roles in solidification and crystal growth, the solid-liquid interface energy σsl of the multicomponent metallic alloys is scarce and scattered because of the experimental complexity in measurements. Moreover, the theoretical prediction of σsl of the metallic alloy has been long suffered from the incomplete understanding of the solid-liquid interface structures. In this paper, the solid-liquid interface of the metallic alloy is reduced to a two-dimensional layer composed of the solid sublattice and liquid sublattice that is further sandwiched by the bulk solid and liquid phases. This enables a well-defined solid-liquid interface enthalpy and entropy hence the Gibbs energy model of the solid-liquid interface layer. Via a constraint minimization of the solid-liquid interface layer Gibbs energy, the composition- and temperature-dependent σsl of the Al-based and Ag-based alloys are calculated by coupling with the available thermodynamic model parameters of the alloys. The calculation results are validated by the experimental data. It demonstrates that the built interface sublattice model offers a self-consistent framework for the automatic prediction of σsl of the metallic alloy ranging from the binary to a multicomponent system. It thus provides a more compelling solution to the long-standing issue associated with the modeling of the solid-liquid interface thermodynamics of the metallic alloys under both undercooling and equilibrium states.