Phase-field modeling for 3D grain growth based on a grain boundary energy database

A 3D phase-field model for grain growth combined with a grain boundary (GB) energy database is proposed. The phase-field model is applied to a grain growth simulation of polycrystalline bcc Fe to investigate the effect of anisotropic GB energy on the microstructural evolution and its kinetics. It is found that the anisotropy in the GB energy results in different microstructures and slower kinetics, especially when the portion of low-angle, low-energy GBs is large. We discuss the applicability of the proposed phase-field simulation technique, based on the GB or interfacial energy database to simulations for microstructural evolution, including abnormal grain growth, phase transformations, etc., in a wider range of polycrystalline materials.