Simple parameterization of embedded atom method potentials for FCC metals

We propose a simple parametric form for interatomic potentials of the Embedded Atom Method (EAM-X) for pure FCC metals, and study some of the basic properties as functions of input parameters. With this model, we deviate from the usual approach of fitting a set of functions to basic properties from experiments and/or density functional theory calculations, and then using those functions to investigate more complex properties. Instead, we illustrate here what we term the “inside out” approach, which seeks to understand generically how complex properties are dependent on the EAM-X parameters themselves. This method enables the identification of regions of parameter space that correspond to desirable attributes, and then the possibility of matching that neighborhood of parameters to real elements. A companion paper extends the model (and property studies) to FCC-based metal alloys.