PhasePot can demonstrate complex physical phenomena during materials processing
Dendritic growth
Dendritic growth is a most common and widely-studied feature in solidification of materials. By combining the phase-field and the Monte-Carlo Potts models, PhasePot provides a unique capacity for the simulation of dendritic patterns that may form in alloys and compounds under different solidification conditions.
Simulation of the transition from regular dendrite to irregular dendrite (seaweed) in an undercooled B2 intermetallic-forming system. Undercooling increases from left to right
Rapid solidification
Rapid solidification of alloys and compounds can be associated with kinetic effects, such as solute trapping, disorder trapping, inverted partitioning and formation of non-equilibrium microstructures, e.g. consisting of anti-phase domains. PhasePot uses a special phase-field formulation for quantitative simulation of these kinetic effects and non-equilibrium microstructures.
Simulation of characteristic anti-phase domains that may form during rapid solidification of intermetallic forming systems
Simulation of a complex solute partitioning behaviour in intermetallic forming systems. The left diagram shows the kinetic phase boundaries for a B2 system
Grain boundary segregation
Mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials are to a large extent influenced by the nature of grain boundaries, which can be manipulated through controlled segregation. PhasePot can be used to simulate segregation and the associated nano-scale phase transformation at grain boundaries of polycrystalline materials, and thus, help with the design of alloys of superior properties.
Simulation of segregation and phase transformation (re-austenitisation) at grain boundaries of martensitic Fe-9 at. % Mn. The left map shows distribution of austenite (red) in a martensite (green) matrix, and the right map shows the crystal orientation of the initial martensite
Electro-deoxidation
Electro-deoxidation is an electrochemical process that can be used for direct reduction of metals from their oxides in a simple step. PhasePot can be used to simulate the underlying mechanism and kinetics of electro-deoxidation, and thus, help with the optimisation of this process, e.g. in terms of geometry and porosity level of the cathode.
Simulation of electro-deoxidation in molten salt, showing different stages of phase change in cathode. The oxide is shown in grey and the metallic phase in white