A random packing model of liquid metals at their melting temperatures

Abstract A random packing model accurately represents the structures of simple metallic and covalent liquids. Since the change in atomic diameter with coordination number in such materials is quantitatively defined by the Goldschmidt relationship, it is possible to derive the principal structural characteristics of these liquids knowing only the crystal structure of the corresponding solid and its volume change upon melting. The results show that those fcc and bcc solids which exhibit a volume change during melting of∼4.5% have precisely the Bernal random close-packed liquid structure, while the more loosely packed diamond-cubic metalloids were also found to be loosely packed in the liquid state. Resume Un arrangement desordonne d'atomes represente avec precision les structures des liquides e liaisons metalliques simples et covalentes. Nous savons que la variation du diametre atomique en fonction du nombre de coordination est definie quantitativement par la relation de Goldschmidt pour de tels materiaux; ...