Athermal heterogeneous nucleation of freezing: numerical modelling for polygonal and polyhedral substrates

Abstract

In a number of cases of practical interest, nucleation of freezing occurs at small supercooling, on potent nucleant substrates. Nucleation is then deterministic, consisting of the onset of free growth at a supercooling related only to substrate size and shape. Existing analytical treatments have evaluated the critical supercooling only for substrates in the form of a plane circle or a sphere. We develop a numerical treatment for a substrate of arbitrary shape. Coefficients are derived to permit straightforward evaluation of the critical supercooling for shapes typical of actual nucleant particles.

Acknowledgements

SAR is grateful to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for a studentship in support of this work.