Phase-field simulation of the elastic effect on the transformation kinetics in precipitation

Phase-field simulations were performed to investigate the effect of elastic field on the transformation kinetics of precipitation for both the single- and the multi-particle systems with different alloy composition c₀ and lattice misfits in Ni-Al binary alloys. Simulated results indicate, for both the single- and the multi-particle systems, that there exists a critical value c_crit for the alloy composition. When c₀ < c _crit, the elastic field delays the transformation, otherwise, accelerates the transformation. Increasing the lattice misfit accelerates the transformation when c₀ > c_crit, but decelerates the transformation when c₀ < c_crit. The elastic field also has great effect on the peak value and its occurrence time of transformation rate, and their values are dependent on the alloy composition. The variety of the effect of elastic field on the transformation kinetics is determined by the competition between the self-elastic energy and the strain-induced interaction energy in different systems.