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### boundary command

Syntax:

    boundary x y z

- x,y,z = p or s or f or m, one or two letters

        p is periodic
        f is non-periodic and fixed
        s is non-periodic and shrink-wrapped
        m is non-periodic and shrink-wrapped with a minimum value

Examples:

    boundary p p f
    boundary p fs p
    boundary s f fm

Description:

Set the style of boundaries for the global simulation box in each dimension. A single letter assigns the same style to both the lower and upper face of the box. Two letters assigns the first style to the lower face and the second style to the upper face. The initial size of the simulation box is set by the read_data, read_restart, or create_box commands.

The style p means the box is periodic, so that particles interact across the boundary, and they can exit one end of the box and re-enter the other end. A periodic dimension can change in size due to constant pressure boundary conditions or box deformation (see the fix npt and fix deform commands). The p style must be applied to both faces of a dimension.

The styles f, s, and m mean the box is non-periodic, so that particles do not interact across the boundary and do not move from one side of the box to the other. For style f, the position of the face is fixed. If an atom moves outside the face it may be lost. For style s, the position of the face is set so as to encompass the atoms in that dimension (shrink-wrapping), no matter how far they move. For style m, shrink-wrapping occurs, but is bounded by the value specified in the data or restart file or set by the create_box command. For example, if the upper z face has a value of 50.0 in the data file, the face will always be positioned at 50.0 or above, even if the maximum z-extent of all the atoms becomes less than 50.0.

Restrictions:

This command cannot be used after the simulation box is defined by a read_data or create_box command.

Related commands:

See the thermo_modify command for a discussion of lost atoms.

Default:

    boundary p p p