Atomistic Modelling of Interfaces in Cold Welded Joints

Atomistic modelling is playing an increasingly important role as a tool to predict fundamental physical properties as well as mechanical properties of materials. With the steady improvement of powerful computational tools, increasingly realistic models can be employed in simulations of relatively complex systems. This has successfully been demonstrated for e.g. hardening precipitates in aluminium alloys. This approach should thus also be well suited for studying interfaces of metal-metal joints. In this paper, both possibilities and potential challenges of an atomistic modelling approach of such systems are discussed, with a particular focus on interface modelling of the industrially important Al-steel joints.