Simulation of phase separation in Na2O-SiO2 glasses under uncertainty

Simulating the phenomenon of spinodal decomposition in glasses and polymers became very popular. However, like any simulation model, spinodal decomposition is affected by uncertainties caused by incorrect model specifications or material properties that are not precisely known. The effect of such uncertainties in modeling phase separations due to spinodal decomposition is examined for the prominent and well-studied Na2O-SiO2 glass. To this end, the widely used Cahn–Hilliard equation is used as mathematical model which involves several material characteristics such as the chemical potential. The material depending parameters within the chemical potential are then considered to be random to account for limited knowledge. By numerical simulations the consequences of such uncertainties are quantified. The obtained results indicate that thermodynamic quantities such as the miscibility gap seem to be less effected by random perturbations of the chemical potential than kinetic quantities such as the time duration until Oswald ripening occurs. •Simulation of phase separation for Na2-SiO2 via Cahn–Hilliard model•Consideration of uncertainty in imprecisely known Gibbs free energy•Monte Carlo simulation to quantify effects on miscibility gap and separation kinetics