ASC Image Library
Advancing Science —Tantalum Solidification Simulation
Snapshots from simulations of solidification in tantalum. The top sequence displays nucleation (a) and growth (b) occurring in a 16,372,000-atom simulation, resulting in a realistic distribution of grains and grain boundaries (c). The same process modeled using 64,000 atoms (d–f) produced the artificial final structure shown in (f).