Modelling precipitate nucleation and growth with multiple precipitate species under isothermal conditions: Formulation and analysis

This study extends the Kampmann–Wagner-Numerical model for the nucleation and growth of precipitates. We introduce a multi-component theoretical framework for the value of the frequency of atomic attachment to a growing particle, which compares well with literature. The growth of precipitates is modelled using Zener approximations and the Gibbs–Thomson effect, where all chemical elements influence the growth rate. The model is discretised using finite-volume and time-integration techniques and subsequently applied under isothermal conditions to an industrial HSLA steel containing Nb(C,N)-, AlN- and MnS-precipitates. The simulations show the importance of the multi-component and multi-phase approach as some of the secondary phases have significant effects on other phases.