Phase-field simulation of static recrystallization considering nucleation from subgrains and nucleus growth with incubation period

In this paper, a computational method for static recrystallization that simultaneously predicts nucleation and nucleus growth is newly proposed. We employ the Kobayashi–Warren–Carter (KWC) phase-field model to express nucleation due to the coalescence of subgrains. The completion of nucleation is judged according to the mean value of the order parameter and the standard deviation of the crystal orientation. We decide whether or not the nucleus grows by virtue of the nucleus size. In addition, some restrictions are set on the nucleus boundaries to represent the absorption of phantom nuclei. A static recrystallization simulation is carried out for a deformed FCC crystal with a large number of subgrains using the present method. The results show that nuclei start to grow after their nucleation incubation periods and that the growing nuclei absorb phantom nuclei. To verify the proposed simulation method, we compare the results obtained from this simulation with some experimental data, i.e., histograms of the nucleation rate and the misorientation on grain boundaries.