A numerical method to compute the dissolution of second phases in ternary alloys

Dissolution of stoichiometric multi-component particles in ternary alloys is an important process occurring during the heat treatment of as-cast aluminium alloys prior to hot extrusion. A mathematical model is proposed to describe such a process. In this model an equation is given to determine the position of the particle interface in time, using two diffusion equations which are coupled by nonlinear boundary conditions at the interface. Some results concerning existence, uniqueness, and monotonicity are given. Furthermore, for an unbounded domain an analytical approximation is derived. The main part of this work is the development of a numerical solution method. Finite differences are used on a grid which changes in time. The discretization of the boundary conditions is important to obtain an accurate solution. The resulting nonlinear algebraic system is solved by the Newton-Raphson method. Numerical experiments illustrate the accuracy of the numerical method. The numerical solution is compared with the analytical approximation.