The melting transition in 3 high-energy and 2 low-energy face-centered cubic symmetrical tilt grain boundaries was investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Low-energy symmetrical tilt grain boundaries were found to be crystalline from room temperature to the thermodynamic equilibrium melting point. All high-energy symmetrical tilt grain boundaries exhibited a pre-melting which was initiated at a transition temperature. The higher the zero-temperature grain-boundary energy, the lower was the transition temperature.

Melting of the Symmetrical Tilt Boundaries in Copper. S.Zhao, D.Cheng, S.Wang, H.Ye: Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 2001, 70[3], 733-7