[SY-I1] Verification of grain growth models by time-resolved 3D experiments in pure iron
Predicting the grain growth behavior of polycrystalline materials is important in the design of material properties in many engineering applications. Various analytical models are proposed to predict the growth behavior, e.g., grain size distribution from the Hillert’s theory or local growth behavior, e.g., the growth rate from the MacPherson-Srolovitz theory. However, experimental verification of these models is lacking. In this work, we present a unique comprehensive dataset with 1300 grains and 15 annealing time-steps, which allows us to test various models for grain growth. In particular, we focus on the MacPherson-Srolovitz theory and address to what extent various statistical ensembles can be meaningfully described by the model and to what extent it is required to include anisotropy. A comprehensive statistical analysis shows that geometrical properties averaged over the entire grain ensemble are well described by the model, but the properties and evolution of the individual grains exhibit substantial scatter.