Microscopic approach to the structure of liquid ${\mathrm{Al}}_{80}$${\mathrm{Mn}}_{20}$ and ${\mathrm{Al}}_{80}$${\mathrm{Ni}}_{20}$ alloys

A new tight-binding-bond approach to interatomic forces in liquid aluminum–transition metal (AL-M) alloys is presented. It is shown that the bond order depends strongly on the strength of the pd hybridization in the A-M alloy, leading to nonadditive potentials with a strong preference for the formation of a pair of unlike atoms and short bond distances in the Al-M pairs. This is illustrated by studying the structural properties of liquid ${\mathrm{Al}}_{80}$ ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{20}$ and ${\mathrm{Al}}_{80}$ ${\mathrm{Mn}}_{20}$ alloys using molecular dynamics simulations and by comparing our results with the available experimental ones.