Computational design of microstructures of textured ferroelectric ceramics by phase field simulation

Grain-oriented microstructure evolutions of ferroelectric ceramics were analyzed using phase field simulations. In templated grain growth, the coarsening behavior of the template particle was investigated in detail. Although a large grain boundary energy was set in the lateral direction along the casting plane, the template particle grew mainly in the vertical direction and gradually converted from a needle-like to rectangular grain. We demonstrated a critical interval of template particles for the preparation of highly textured ceramics. Therefore, different microstructures with high degrees of texture could be fabricated by adjusting and controlling the template size and fraction. Complementary experiments were guided by the computational design. Dense ferroelectric ceramics with high degrees of texture were obtained.