Recently, the method of enveloping distribution sampling (EDS) to efficiently obtain free enthalpy differences between different molecular systems from a single simulation has been generalized to compute free enthalpy differences between different conformations of a system [Z. X. Lin, H. Y. Liu, S. Riniker, and W. F. van Gunsteren, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 7, 3884 (2011)]. However, the efficiency of EDS in this case is hampered if the parts of the conformational space relevant to the two end states or conformations are far apart and the conformational diffusion from one state to the other is slow. This leads to slow convergence of the EDS parameter values and free enthalpy differences. In the present work, we apply the EDS methodology to a challenging case, i.e., to calculate the free enthalpy difference between a right-handed 2.7(10∕12)-helix and a left-handed 3(14)-helix of a hexa-β-peptide in solution from a single simulation. No transition between the two helices was detected in a standard EDS parameter update simulation, thus enhanced sampling techniques had to be applied, which included adiabatic decoupling (AD) of solute and solvent motions in combination with increasing the solute temperature, and lowering the shear viscosity of the solvent. AD was found to be unsuitable to enhance the sampling of the solute conformations in the EDS parameter update simulations. Lowering the solvent shear viscosity turned out to be useful during EDS parameter update simulations, i.e., it did speed up the conformational diffusion of the solute, more transitions between the two helices were observed. This came at the cost of more CPU time spent due to the shorter time step needed for simulations with the lower solvent shear viscosity. Using an improved EDS parameter update scheme, parameter convergence was five-fold enhanced. The resulting free enthalpy difference between the two helices calculated from EDS agrees well with the result obtained through direct counting from a long MD simulation, while the EDS technique significantly enhances the sampling of both helices over non-helical conformations.

Short-range ordering around carbon interstitials in face-centered cubic (fcc) Fe-Mn-Al is studied by density-functional theory, considering the configuration of Fe, Mn, Al atoms in the first three coordination spheres of a carbon atom in an octahedral site. The ordering energies are derived from the solution energies of carbon in different environments, and these energies show that carbon prefers manganese as a first-nearest neighbor while the impact of manganese as a second-or third-nearest neighbor is negligible. Aluminum, on the other hand, is strongly preferred as a second-nearest neighbor and strongly rejected as a first-or third-nearest neighbor. The combination of the Mn and Al interactions with carbon in quaternary configurations yields a considerable interdependence of the two effects. The observed ordering effects are explained by differences in chemical bond strengths as well as lattice relaxations. The calculated ordering energies are integrated into an improved model of short-range ordering in austenitic Fe-Mn-Al-C that allows for the prediction of the energy difference between configurations where carbon is in different octahedral sites.

Abstract:Since the addition of Al to high-Mn steels is known to reduce their sensitivity to hydrogen-induced delayed fracture, we investigate possible trapping effects connected to the presence of Al in the grain interior employing density-functional theory (DFT). The role of Al-based precipitates is also investigated to understand the relevance of short-range ordering effects. So-called E2 1 -Fe 3 AlC κ-carbides are frequently observed in Fe-Mn-Al-C alloys. Since H tends to occupy the same positions as C in these precipitates, the interaction and competition between both interstitials is also investigated via DFT-based simulations. While the individual H-H/C-H chemical interactions are generally repulsive, the tendency of interstitials to increase the lattice parameter can yield a net increase of the trapping capability. An increased Mn content is shown to enhance H trapping due to attractive short-range interactions. Favorable short-range ordering is expected to occur at the interface between an Fe matrix and the E2 1 -Fe 3 AlC κ-carbides, which is identified as a particularly attractive trapping site for H. At the same time, accumulation of H at sites of this type is observed to yield decohesion of this interface, thereby promoting fracture formation. The interplay of these effects, evident in the trapping energies at various locations and dependent on the H concentration, can be expressed mathematically, resulting in a term that describes the hydrogen embrittlement.

No abstract