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In lattice Boltzmann simulations particle groups — represented by scalar velocity distributions — are moved on a finite lattice. The size of these particle groups is not well-defined although it is crucial to assume that they should be big enough for using a continuous distribution. Here we propose to use the liquid–vapor interface as an internal yardstick to scale the system. Comparison with existing experimental data and with molecular dynamics simulation of Lennard–Jones-argon shows that the number of atoms located on one lattice site is in the order of few atoms. This contradicts the initial assumption concerning the number of particles in the group, therefore seems to raise some doubts about the applicability of the lattice Boltzmann method in certain problems whenever interfaces play important role and ergodicity does not hold.

Recently, individual-based models originally used for biological purposes revealed interesting insights into processes of the competition of languages. Within this new field of population dynamics a model considering sexual populations with aging is presented. The agents are situated on a lattice and each one speaks one of two languages or both. The stability and quantitative structure of an interface between two regions, initially speaking different languages, is studied. We find that individuals speaking both languages do not prefer any of these regions and have a different age structure than individuals speaking only one language.

In this paper, the interaction of shock waves with multi-fluids interfaces is investigated by numerical simulations using unstructured quadrilateral adaptive meshes. In order to obtain a detailed structure of the interface, a solution adaptive method for compressible multi-fluid flows developed by Zheng et al. is employed. Firstly, the method is verified by a planar shock and interface interaction problem, which is compared with the front tracking method for the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability problem. Following the verification, the interaction between a circular shock and a sinusoidally perturbed circular interface in cylinder vessel is firstly investigated in our paper. The results show that the solution adaptive method can be employed to study the compressible multi-fluid cases with relatively complex geometry as well as capturing the fine details of interfacial structures of the interaction.

Computer simulations of bi-continuous two-phase fluids with interspersed dumbbells show that, unlike rigid colloids, soft dumbbells do not lead to arrested coarsening. However, they significantly alter the curvature dynamics of the fluid–fluid interface, whose probability density distributions are shown to exhibit (i) a universal spontaneous transition (observed even in the absence of colloids) from an initial broad-shape distribution towards a highly localized one and (ii) super-diffusive dynamics with long-range effects. Both features may prove useful for the design of novel families of soft porous materials.

The interface behavior may significantly influence the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced composites due to the large interface area per unit volume at the composite. The modeling of CNT/polymer interfaces has been a challenge in the continuum modeling of CNT-reinforced composites. This paper presents a review of recent progress to model the CNT/matrix interfaces via a cohesive law established from the van der Waals force. A simple, analytical cohesive law is obtained from the inter-atomic potential, and is used to study the effect of CNT/matrix interfaces on the macroscopic properties of CNT-reinforced composites.

To reveal the wear mechanism of hyperbranched polysilane (HBPSi) grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (HBPSi–MWCNTs) modified benzoxazine–bismaleimide (BOZ–BMI) resin (HBPSi–MWCNTs/BOZ–BMI), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were employed. The results indicated that the suitable addition of HBPSi–MWCNTs could largely enhance the tribological properties of BOZ–BMI composites. The worn surface of the composites showed that the severe wear of the BOZ–BMI resin was converted from adhesive wear to abrasive wear with the addition of HBPSi–MWCNTs. The excellent tribological properties can be attributed to the improved interfacial adhesion between HBPSi–MWCNTs and the BOZ–BMI resin matrix. The TGA demonstrated that the composite with 0.8wt.% HBPSi–MWCNTs exhibits better thermal resistance; thus, it can inhibit adhesive wear during the friction process. The XPS spectra and the surface energy showed that the HBPSi–MWCNTs could be exposed on the worn surface of the composite to improve the anti-wear capacity of the composites further.

Defects and stress distribution in the interface of Ge/Si hetero-structures play an important role in silicon-based semiconductor devices. This work at atomic scale performs molecular dynamics simulations to study the packing characteristics in the Ge/Si interface and loading features on the atoms for different contacting configurations between Ge nanopillars and Si substrates. Based on the analysis of energy, composition, the distribution of hydrostatic pressure, the Lode–Nadai parameters of each atom as well as visualized atomic packing images in the interface regions, simulation results show that contacting configurations of the Ge nanopillar with the (100) surface and the (110) surface of the Si substrate significantly affect the stability of the interface structures. The load-bearing positions of the Si surface and the inter-diffusion among the atoms in the interface regions greatly contribute to the lattice distortion of the silicon substrate, the composition, defects, and local stress distribution in the interface regions.

The dynamic propagation of a crack in a functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) interface layer between two dissimilar piezoelectric layers under anti-plane shear is analyzed using the integral transform approaches. The properties of the FGPM layers vary continuously along the thickness. FGPM layer and the two homogeneous piezoelectric layers are connected weak-discontinuously. A constant velocity Yoffe-type moving crack is considered. Numerical values on the dynamic energy release rate (DERR) are presented for the FGPM. Followings are helpful to increase of the resistance of the crack propagation of the FGPM interface layer: (a) certain direction and magnitude of the electric loading; (b) increase of the thickness of the FGPM interface layer; (c) increase of the thickness of the homogeneous piezoelectric layer which has larger material properties than those of the crack plane in the FGPM interface layer. The DERR always increases with the increase of crack moving velocity and the gradient of the material properties.

Intraband transitions of an impurity electron from the ground state to 2P_x and 2P_y excited states of a shallow donor located near a semiconductor-metal interface are investigated as a function of the donor distance from the interface. Impurity states are calculated within the effective mass approximation and using a variational scheme in which the energies and the oscillator strength for the intraband absorption are obtained analytically.