A Monte Carlo simulation on surface tension of liquid nickel

Surface tensions of liquid metals are of particular importance in analysing and understanding many of metallurgical and processing operations. With the development of powerful computer simulation techniques, molecular simulation method provides a possible way to obtain reliable thermophysical properties of metals. In the present contribution, we concern ourselves with the application of the Monte Carlo (MC) method and the embedded-atom method (EAM) to calculate the surface tension and temperature coefficient of surface tension of a liquid transition metal, namely nickel. The simulation of surface tension is performed through the calculation of cohesive work of the metal. The results are compared with some of the existing experimental data. It shows that the Monte Carlo simulation in conjunction with an effective potential function derived from EAM provide a possible way of obtaining surface tension of transition metals.