Modelling the role of compositional fluctuations in nucleation kinetics

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Authors

External Organisational units

  • Materials Center Leoben Forschungs GmbH
  • Institute of Materials Science and Technology

Abstract

The classical nucleation theory of precipitate nucleation in interstitial/substitutional alloys is applied to account for the influence of spatial A-B composition fluctuations in an A-B-C matrix on the kinetics of nucleation of (A,B)3C precipitates. A and B are substitutional elements in the matrix and C is an interstitial component, assumed to preferentially bind to B atoms. All lattice sites are considered as potential nucleation sites. The fluctuations of chemical composition result in a local variation of the nucleation probability. The nucleation sites are eliminated from the system if they are located in a C-depleted diffusion zone belonging to an already nucleated and growing precipitate. The chemistry is that of an Fe-Cr-C system, and the specific interface energy is treated as a free parameter. Random, regular and homogeneous A-B distributions in the matrix are simulated and compared for various values of the interface energy. An increasing enhancement of the role of compositional fluctuations on nucleation kinetics with increasing interface energy and decreasing chemical driving force is observed.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)355-376
JournalActa materialia
Volume91
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2014