SIMULATION OF THE STRUCTURE FACTOR OF LIQUID METALS

Abstract

Applying the solution of the Percus- Yevick equation to a one component system and using a screened pseudopotential, a model is developed for simulating the structure factor of liquid metals at different temperatures and densities. The results obtained were in very good agreement with experimental data. The model can reproduce the peak positions in the structure factor of liquid metals within the limit of experimental error. The peak position occurs when the screened potential is a minimum. The study revealed that increase in temperature increases the peak height of the. structure factor of liquid metal but does not cause a change in the peak position. Also structure factor decreases exponentially with parking fraction. Structure factor is highest Cor metals with low packing fraction. At high packing fraction there is no significant difference in the structure factor of metals of a particular group. Consequently, at high packing fraction, all the metals in the same group will exhibit similar behaviour.