Testing Numerical Modeling of Phase Coarsening by Microgravity Experiments

Quantitative understanding of the morphological evolution that occurs during phase coarsening is crucial for optimization of processing procedures to control the final structure and properties of multiphase materials. Generally, ground-based experimental studies of phase coarsening in solids are limited to model alloy systems. Data from microgravity experiments on phase coarsening in Sn-Pb solid-liquid mixtures, executed on the International Space Station, are archived in NASA's Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) system. In such microgravity experiments, it is expected that the rate of sedimentation will be greatly reduced compared with terrestrial conditions, allowing the kinetics of phase coarsening to be followed more carefully and accurately. In this work we tested existing numerical models of phase coarsening using NASA's PSI microgravity data. Specially, we compared the microstructures derived from phase-field and multiparticle diffusion simulations with those observed in microgravity experiments.