Three-dimensional phase-field simulations of coarsening kinetics of γ′ particles in binary Ni-Al alloys

The coarsening kinetics of gamma' precipitates in binary Ni-Al alloy is studied using three-dimensional (3D) phase-field simulations. The bulk thermodynamic information and atomic diffusion mobilities are obtained from databases constructed using the CALP-HAD approach, while the experimental values for the interfacial energy, elastic constants and lattice mismatch are directly employed in the phase-field model. Specifically, we predict the morphological evolution, average precipitate size, and size distribution as a function of time for a given temperature and composition. Comparison of the phase-field simulation results with experiments shows Good quantitative agreement in both time and length scales. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.