[Paper Review] Influence of Elastic Oscillations on Nucleation in Metals

A. S. Nuradinov, O. V. Chistyakov+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Feb 8, 2026

Ultrasound and Cavitation Phenomena0 citations

TL;DR

This study investigates how elastic oscillations and ultrasound affect nucleation in metal melts, showing vibration lowers the needed supercooling and that cavitation is not the exclusive mechanism, with nucleation enhanced by growth steps on adsorbed nuclei surfaces.

ABSTRACT

This work is devoted to establishing the mechanisms of elastic oscillation influence on nucleation processes in metal melts. The method of physical modeling with low-temperature metallic alloys (Wood and Rose) and transparent organic media (salol, camphene, diphenylamine) was used. It was established that vibration and ultrasound significantly reduce the supercooling required to initiate crystallization. The effectiveness of the influence significantly increases for samples with solid substrates. The hypotheses about the influence through changes in melt viscosity and the exclusive role of cavitation were experimentally refuted. The transition from pre-cavitation to cavitation ultrasound regime is not accompanied by qualitative changes in the influence on nucleation. The mechanism of elastic oscillation influence is substantiated, which consists in mechanical impact on adsorbed crystal nuclei on the surfaces of solid substrates. Elastic oscillations increase the nucleation rate by creating growth steps (dislocations) on the surfaces of adsorbed nuclei as a result of mechanical friction of solid substrates and cavitation erosion. The results have fundamental significance for understanding the physical nature of metal crystallization and practical application for developing technologies for controlling structure formation.

Motivation & Objective

• Understand how elastic oscillations influence nucleation in metal melts.
• Identify whether cavitation is essential to ultrasound-assisted nucleation.
• Determine the role of substrate interactions in nucleation under vibration.
• Develop mechanistic insight into how mechanical effects modify crystal nucleation.
• Explore potential practical implications for controlling crystallization in metals.

Proposed method

• Physical modeling using low-temperature metallic alloys (Wood and Rose).
• Experimental analogs with transparent organic media (salol, camphene, diphenylamine).
• Systematically compare vibration/ultrasound regimes and substrate presence.
• Assess changes in supercooling required for crystallization.
• Evaluate effects of cavitation versus non-cavitation mechanisms.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Does elastic oscillation/ultrasound reduce the supercooling required to initiate crystallization in metals and analogs?
• RQ2 Is cavitation essential for the observed influence on nucleation, or can other mechanisms explain it?
• RQ3 What role do solid substrates and their interfaces play in nucleation under elastic oscillations?
• RQ4 What is the proposed mechanism by which elastic oscillations affect nucleation on adsorbed crystal nuclei?

Key findings

• Vibration and ultrasound significantly reduce the supercooling required to initiate crystallization.
• The influence is more pronounced for samples with solid substrates.
• The results refute the hypothesis that changes in melt viscosity or cavitation alone explain the effect.
• A mechanism is proposed where elastic oscillations mechanically interact with adsorbed nuclei on substrate surfaces to create growth steps (dislocations) via friction and cavitation erosion.
• Nucleation rate increases due to formation of growth steps on adsorbed nuclei surfaces.