The fascination of grain boundary grooves

Studies of the topography of grain boundary thermal grooves in nickel rich NiAl by atomic force microscopy are reported. It is demonstrated how the processes of grain boundary sliding and surface faceting modify the shape of the grooves. A quantitative theory of grain boundary grooving that takes into account the above complications is developed. A high potential of grooving studies for the analysis of microstructure evolution is demonstrated. MST/5085.