Phase-field simulation of abnormal grain growth due to inverse pinning Original Research Article

The possibility of abnormal grain growth due to inverse pinning was verified using phase-field simulations. In bicrystalline systems with circular precipitates, the perfect wetting condition is required for the long-distance migration of the interface between the matrix grains. If the distance between precipitates that are perpendicular to the interface exceeds a critical value, the migration is not observed irrespective of the wetting condition. In polycrystalline systems, abnormal grain growth occurs with the aid of the driving force for grain growth even though llim exceeded the critical value, where llim is the minimum distance between precipitates. Furthermore, the perfect wetting condition is not required for the abnormal grain growth in the polycrystalline systems. These facts enlarge the possibility of inverse pinning in real alloy systems.