Simulations of Anisotropic Grain Growth Involving Two Phase Nanocrystalline/Amorphous Systems Using Q State Monte Carlo

Abstract

The present work incorporates an implementation of the two dimensional, Qstate Monte Carlo method to evaluate anisotropic grain growth in twophase nanocrystalline/amorphous systems. Specifically, anisotropic grain boundaries are simulated via the use of surface energies and binding energies; the former attributable to the variation in grain orientation and assigned through a mapping process involving Wulff plots. The secondary, amorphous phase is randomly assigned to the lattice in accordance with a specified initial volume fraction. Among other findings, the results reveal that the grain boundary surface energy, as governed by the shape of the Wulff plot, plays a critical role in the resulting microstructure. Additionally, it was found that the addition of a secondary amorphous phase to an existing anisotropic grain boundary system evolves into primary grain microstructures characteristic of single phase isotropic systems.