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Three-dimensional phase-field simulation of microstructural evolution in three-phase materials with different diffusivities

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Abstract

The coarsening behavior of three-phase materials, such as eutectic material systems, is of high technological interest. Microstructure evolution simulations can help to understand the effect of different magnitudes of the diffusivities in the different phases. In this study, the evolution of a 3D three-phase morphology was modeled with equal interfacial energy and volume fraction and similar thermodynamic properties for the three phases, but the diffusion mobilities were taken different. It was observed that the phase with the lowest mobility has the highest growth rate and, on average, a larger number of grain faces, while the other two phases have a nearly equal growth rate and average number of grain faces. The simulation results are compared with results from experiments and simulation studies for single-phase and two-phase materials.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the ‘Strategic Initiative Materials’ in Flanders (SIM) and the Institute for Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT) under the Solution based Processing of Photovoltaic Modules (SoPPoM) program. The simulations were performed using the VSC—Flemish Supercomputing Center (Vlaams Supercomputer Centrum) funded by the Hercules foundation and the Flemish Government—Department EWI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Hamed Ravash, Jef Vleugels & Nele Moelans

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  1. Hamed Ravash
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  2. Jef Vleugels
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  3. Nele Moelans
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Correspondence to Hamed Ravash.

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Ravash, H., Vleugels, J. & Moelans, N. Three-dimensional phase-field simulation of microstructural evolution in three-phase materials with different diffusivities. J Mater Sci 49, 7066–7072 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8411-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8411-0

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