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

The coarsening kinetics of γ′ 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 CALPHAD 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.