Phase field method

Alphonse Finel and Yann Le Bouar


LEM
ONERA/CNRS
BP 72, 92322 Chatillon, France

We will present the Phase Field method and its use for predicting the evolution of microstructures due to solid-solid phase transformations in inhomogeneous systems. We will in particular discuss the derivation of Ginzburg-Landau free energies for specific phase transitions and the corresponding kinetic equations for conserved and non-conserved fields. We will also discuss the incorporation of the strain energy due to the lattice misfit between precipitates and matrix. The overall method will be illustrated in details in two different situations: the microstructures in Ni-based super-alloys and the complex evolution of the chessboard structures observed in Co-Pt alloys.