[SY-F6] Phase field study of the effect of coherency strains and applied load in material couples
We investigate the role of coherency strains and applied load on phase growth and morphological evolution in binary diffusion couples using the phase field method. We employ the Kim-Kim-Suzuki model for the chemical contribution in the free energy. The elastic energy contribution to the free energy is evaluated using a suitable interpolation scheme considering the elastic heterogeneity between the different phases. When elastic stresses are considered, we observe bending and splitting of the phase layers for mechanically constrained, partially constrained and relaxed systems. The interface remains planar in the absence of elastic stresses. In addition, we study the role of volume fraction of the phases and finite size of the system on the microstructure evolution.