Influence of the phase diagram on the diffuse interface thickness and on the microstructure formation in a phase-field model for binary alloy Original Research Article

A phase-field model is used to investigate the responses of planar interfaces and of eutectic microstructures on the different shapes of the phase diagram in binary alloy systems. Numerical solutions of the dynamic field equations show that the interfacial profile and the thickness of the diffuse boundary layer depend on the segregation of the alloy components. The simulations are presented for different openings of binary phase diagrams. A strong influence of the phase diagram on the evolution of eutectic microstructures is found and quantitatively evaluated by defining an appropriate measure. The results are interpreted in terms of weighting the different contributions in the phase-field equation.