EPJ ST Special Issue: From Microscopic/Mesoscopic Particle Aggregates (Formations) to Macroscopic Structures

Details

Published on 20 May 2025

Guest Editors: Liubov Toropova, Irina Nizovtseva

Transport processes around phase interfaces, together with thermodynamic properties and kinetic phenomena, control the formation of dendritic patterns. Using the thermodynamic and kinetic data of phase interfaces obtained on an atomic scale, one can analyse the formation of a single dendrite and the growth of a dendritic ensemble. This is the result of recent progress in theoretical methods and computational algorithms calculated using powerful computer clusters.

Great benefits can be attained from the development of (i) micro-, (ii) meso-, and (iii) macro-levels of analysis when investigating the dynamics of interfaces, interpreting experimental data, and designing the macrostructure of samples and concrete technological products. Review and research articles are welcome to cover the whole spectrum of scales (from nano to macro) in order to exhibit recently developed trends in the theoretical analysis and computational modelling of dendrite pattern formation.

A (i) micro-scaled level of description is directly connected with the atomistic model based on the continuous phase field crystal method.

An analysis of dendritic patterns developing at a (ii) meso-scale is offered in the present issue in both the theoretical and experimental works. Experiments are provided by electromagnetic and electrostatic facilities, melt fluxing, and crystallisation in channels. The growth of semiconductor dendrites, the effect of a convective flow on dendrite formation, the growth of eutectic dendrites, and dendrite fragmentation are presented as new trends and advances in our understanding about pattern formation.

The (iii) macro-level of dendritic formation is characterised by a two-phase mushy layer origination. The two-phase mushy layer represents the heterogeneous region between a macroscopically homogeneous mother phase (usually liquid) and a homogeneous solid phase (usually amorphous or crystalline). The formation of this region provides the quickest relaxation to equilibrium during (phase) transformation.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas and research problems:

• Atomistic modelling
• Hydrodynamic effects on interface dynamics
• The transition from diffusion-limited to thermally-controlled growth as a considerable driving force on transformation
• Two-phase mushy layer formation
• Computational meshless methods
• Unconditionally gradient stable algorithms
• Boundary integral and phase field methods
• Experimental tests for theoretical models

Articles should be submitted to the Editorial Office of EPJ ST via the submission system, and should be clearly identified as intended for the topical issue “From Microscopic/Mesoscopic Particle Aggregates (Formations) to Macroscopic Structures”.

More detailed author information including paper types can be found in the Submission Guidelines. For the preparation of the manuscripts a special latex template (preferably single-column layout) is available here.

Guest Editors:

Dr. Liubov Toropova, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr. Irina Nizovtseva, , Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Open Access: EPJST is a hybrid journal offering Open Access publication via the Open Choice programme and a growing number of Transformative Agreements. If the institution of the CORRESPONDING AUTHOR is part of such a Transformative Agreement, the Open Access fee will be covered by the agreement partner. All agreements are listed with more details under TRANSFORMATIVE Agreements. Eligibility will be automatically verified when the corresponding author is requested to complete the relevant affiliation information after acceptance of the paper during the production process. Corresponding authors not affiliated to institutes with Transformative Agreements are redirected to proceed with “Please select your publishing model” and have to decide between paying the current Open Access fee or choosing the subscription option without any publication charges.