No Arabic abstract
The precipitate shape, size and distribution are crucial factors which determine the properties of several technologically important alloys. Elastic interactions between the inclusions modify their morphology and align them along elastically favourable crystallographic directions. Among the several factors contributing to the elastic interaction energy between precipitating phases, anisotropy in elastic moduli is decisive in the emergence of modulated structures during phase separation in elastically coherent alloy systems. We employ a phase-field model incorporating elastic interaction energy between the misfitting phases to study microstructural evolution in ternary three-phase alloy systems when the elastic moduli are anisotropic. The spatiotemporal evolution of the composition field variables is governed by solving a set of coupled Cahn-Hilliard equations numerically using a semi-implicit Fourier spectral technique. We methodically vary the misfit strains, alloy chemistry and elastic anisotropy to investigate their influence on domain morphology during phase separation. The coherency strains between the phases and alloy composition alter the coherent phase equilibria and decomposition pathways. The degree of anisotropy in elastic moduli modifies the elastic interaction energy between the precipitates depending on the sign and magnitude of relative misfits, and thus determines the shape and alignment of the inclusions in the microstructure.
Most of the commercially important alloys are multicomponent, producing multiphase microstructures as a result of processing. When the coexisting phases are elastically coherent, the elastic interactions between these phases play a major role in the development of microstructures. To elucidate the key effects of elastic stress on microstructural evolution when more than two misfitting phases are present in the microstructure, we have developed a microelastic phase-field model in two dimensions to study phase separation in ternary alloy system. Numerical solutions of a set of coupled Cahn-Hilliard equations for the composition fields govern the spatiotemporal evolution of the three-phase microstructure. The model incorporates coherency strain interactions between the phases using Khachaturyans microelasticity theory. We systematically vary the misfit strains (magnitude and sign) between the phases along with the bulk alloy composition to study their effects on the morphological development of the phases and the resulting phase separation kinetics. We also vary the ratio of interfacial energies between the phases to understand the interplay between elastic and interfacial energies on morphological evolution. The sign and degree of misfit affect strain partitioning between the phases during spinodal decomposition, thereby affecting their compositional history and morphology. Moreover, strain partitioning affects solute partitioning and alters the kinetics of coarsening of the phases. The phases associated with higher misfit strain appear coarser and exhibit wider size distribution compared to those having lower misfit. When the interfacial energies satisfy complete wetting condition, phase separation leads to development of stable core-shell morphology depending on the misfit between the core (wetted) and the shell (wetting) phases.
Mechanism for acceleration of phase separation in Fe-base ternary alloys was investigated with use of a model based on the Cahn-Hilliard equation. Behavior of the minor element in an Fe-base ternary alloy along the trajectory of the peak of the major element is dependent on the sign of the second derivative of the chemical free energy with respect to the concentrations of the major and minor elements. However, the concentration of the major element along the trajectory of its peak top increases with time regardless of the sign of the second derivative of the chemical free energy. The addition of a substitutional element to an Fe-base binary alloy with composition within the spinodal region was found to accelerate phase separation
We report on a novel extension of the recent phase-field crystal (PFC) method introduced in [Elder et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 88, 245701:1-4 (2002)], which incorporates elastic interactions as well as crystal plasticity and diffusive dynamics. In our model, elastic interactions are mediated through wave modes that propagate on time scales many orders of magnitude slower than atomic vibrations but still much faster than diffusive times scales. This allows us to preserve the quintessential advantage of the PFC model: the ability to simulate atomic-scale interactions and dynamics on time scales many orders of magnitude longer than characteristic vibrational time scales. We demonstrate the two different modes of propagation in our model and show that simulations of grain growth and elasto-plastic deformation are consistent with the microstructural properties of nanocrystals.
Anomalies in the temperature dependences of the recoil-free factor, f, and the average center shift, <CS>, measured by 57-Fe Mossbauer Spectroscopy, were observed for the first time in the archetype of the sigma-phase alloys system, Fe-Cr. In both cases the anomaly started at the temperature close to the magnetic ordering temperature, and in both cases it was indicative of lattice vibrations hardening. As no magnetostrictive effects were found, the anomalies seem to be entirely due to a spin-phonon coupling. The observed changes in f and in <CS> were expressed in terms of the underlying changes in the potential, Delta E_p, and the kinetic energy, Delta E_k, respectively. The former, with the maximum value larger by a factor of six than the latter, decreases, while the latter increases with T. The total mechanical energy change, Delta E, was, in general, not constant, as expected for the Debye-like vibrations, but it resembled that of Delta E_p. Only in the range of 4-15 K, Delta E was hardly dependent on T.
The strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) semi-local functional for exchange-correlation is deployed to study the ground-state properties of ternary Heusler alloys transforming martensitically. The calculations are performed for ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic, and antiferromagnetic phases. Comparisons between SCAN and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) are discussed. We find that SCAN yields smaller lattice parameters and higher magnetic moments compared to the GGA corresponding values for both austenite and martensite phases. Furthermore, in the case of ferromagnetic and non-magnetic Heusler compounds, GGA and SCAN display similar trends in the total energy as a function of lattice constant and tetragonal ratio. However, for some ferrimagnetic Mn-rich Heusler compounds, different magnetic ground states are found within GGA and SCAN.