Effects of temperature gradient and elastic strain on spinodal decomposition and microstructure evolution of binary alloys

Abstract

The phase-field model was extended to simulate spinodal decomposition under the temperature gradient and external elastic strain in binary alloys, and the variations of phase decomposition temperature and precipitate morphology were investigated. In the system with a temperature gradient, the phase decomposition happens gradually from low temperature to high temperature. The strain energy induced by the applied strain promotes spinodal decomposition, and the morphology orientation is intensified with the increase of temperature and applied strain. The inhomogeneous microstructure is induced under the temperature gradient and applied strain along the temperature increment. Promoted by the composition inhomogeneity of the early precipitates and applied strain, the transition of the spinodal decomposition to nucleation and growth occurred in the high temperature regions.