Simulation of phase transitions in multiphase systems: peritectic solidification of (RE)Ba2Cu3O7-x superconductors

The phase-field concept as an efficient tool to describe microstructure evolution is briefly reviewed and its extension to multi-phase systems is highlighted. The method has been applied to simulate several features occuring during the peritectic growth of YBCO superconductors. The respective results contribute to the understanding of the growth mechanisms and reveal a dissolution/reprecipitation mechanism contributing to 211 particle displacement leading to inhomogeneous 211 particle distributions.