Simulation of grain growth for ABO3 type ceramics

The evolutions of grain growth in ceramics with ABO3 type structure were simulated at atomistic level by the Monte Carlo method with Visual C++ language. Several parameters, such as initial seed number, seed activation coefficient, sintering temperature and time, were incorporated. Realistic images in series were monitored and quantitative data were obtained, including the fractal dimensions of grain boundaries during the kinetic evolution of grain growth. The resulted kinetic exponents of grain growth were variable during the process of simulation, being smaller (∼1.8) at early period and larger (∼5.5) at later stage. It was in good agreement with the experimental result of practical (Ba0.9Sr0.1)TiO3 ceramics.