TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, X. A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Boyce, B.L. A1 - Clark, B.G. A1 - Raabe, D. A1 - Thompson, G.B. T1 - Spinodal Decomposition in Nanocrystalline Alloys JF - Acta Materialia N2 - For more than half a century, spinodal decomposition has been a key phenomenon in considering the formation of secondary phases in alloys. The most prominent aspect of the spinodal phenomenon is the lack of an energy barrier on its transformation pathway, offering an alternative to the nucleation and growth mechanism. The classical description of spinodal decomposition often neglects the influence of defects, such as grain boundaries, on the transformation because the innate ability for like-atoms to cluster is assumed to lead the process. Nevertheless, in nanocrystalline alloys, with a high population of grain boundaries with diverse characters, the structurally heterogeneous landscape can greatly influence the chemical decomposition behavior. Combining atom-probe tomography, precession electron diffraction and density-based phase-field simulations, we address how grain boundaries contribute to the temporal evolution of chemical decomposition within the miscibility gap of a Pt-Au nanocrystalline system. We found that grain boundaries can actually have their own miscibility gaps profoundly altering the spinodal decomposition in nanocrystalline alloys. A complex realm of multiple interfacial states, ranging from competitive grain boundary segregation to barrier-free low-dimensional interfacial decomposition, occurs with a dependency upon the grain boundary character. KW - Density-based Thermodynamics KW - Nanocrystalline alloys KW - Spinodal decomposition KW - Defects engineering PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117054 VL - 215 SP - 117054 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-52918 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - Incorporating elasticity into CALPHAD-informed density-based grain boundary phase diagrams reveals segregation transition in Al-Cu and Al-Cu-Mg alloys JF - Acta Materialia N2 - The phase-like behavior of grain boundaries (GBs), recently evidenced in several materials, is opening up new possibilities in the design of alloy microstructures. In this context, GB phase diagrams are contributing to a predictive description of GB segregation and (interfacial) phase changes. The influence of chemo-mechanical solute-GB interactions on the GB phase diagram remains elusive so far. This is particularly important for multi-component alloys where the elastic interactions among solute atoms, of various sizes and bonding energies, can prevail, governing a complex co-segregation phenomenon. Recently, we developed a density-based model for GB thermodynamics that intrinsically accounts for GB elasticity in pure elements. In this work, we incorporate the homogeneous and heterogeneous elastic energies associated with the solutes into the density-based framework. We derive the multi-component homogeneous elastic energy by generalizing the continuum misfitting sphere model and extend it for GBs. The density-based free energy functional directly uses bulk CALPHAD thermodynamic data. The model is applied to binary and ternary Al alloys. We reveal that the elastic energy can profoundly affect the GB solubility and segregation behavior, leading to Cu segregation in otherwise Cu-depleted Al GBs. Consequently, GB segregation transition, i.e., a jump in the GB segregation as a function of alloy composition, is revealed in Al-Cu and Al-Cu-Mg alloy systems with implications for subsequent GB precipitation in these alloys. CALPHAD-informed elasticity-incorporated GB phase diagrams enable addressing a broader range of GB phenomena in engineering multi-component alloys. KW - Grain boundary thermodynamics KW - Density-based model KW - Al alloys KW - Grain boundary phase diagram KW - CALPHAD KW - Elastic energy PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2021.110717 VL - 199 SP - 110717 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-53058 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Wang, L. T1 - Elastic energy of multi-component solid solutions and strain origins of phase stability in high-entropy alloys JF - Scripta materialia N2 - The elastic energy of mixing for multi-component solid solutions is derived by generalizing Eshelby's sphere-in-hole model. By surveying the dependence of the elastic energy on the chemical composition and lattice misfit, we derive a lattice strain coefficient λ*. Studying several high-entropy alloys and superalloys, we propose that most solid solution multi-component alloys are stable when λ*<0.16, generalizing the Hume-Rothery atomic-size rule for binary alloys. We also reveal that the polydispersity index δ, frequently used for describing strain in multi-component alloys, directly represents the elastic energy e with e=qδ², q being an elastic constant. Furthermore, the effects of (i) the number and (ii) the atomic-size distribution of constituting elements on the phase stability of high-entropy alloys were quantified. The present derivations and discussions open for richer considerations of elastic effects in high-entropy alloys, offering immediate support for quantitative assessments of their thermodynamic properties and studying related strengthening mechanisms. KW - Ordering KW - High-entropy alloys KW - Alloy design KW - Strain energy KW - Phase stability PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2021.114226 SN - 1359-6462 VL - 206 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-53427 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - Density-based Thermodynamics of Microstructure Defects N2 - Systematic microstructure design requires reliable thermodynamic descriptions and phase diagrams of each and all microstructure elements. While such descriptions are well established for most bulk phases, thermodynamic assessment of crystal defects is greatly challenged by their individualistic aspects. In this talk, we present a density-based thermodynamic concept to describe defects based on available bulk thermodynamic data. Here dealing with grain boundaries (GBs), we apply this concept to compute GB (phase) diagram. Applications to segregation engineering of GBs in bulk and nanocrystalline alloys will be presented. We further develop this model to include the effect of elastic interactions due to atom size mismatch and obtain the corresponding GB (phase) diagram for the ternary Al-Cu-Li system. T2 - TMS 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 15.03.2021 KW - Microstrucrue Design KW - Density-based Thermodynamics PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52337 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Lin, L. L. A1 - Manzoni, Anna Maria A1 - Skrotzki, Birgit A1 - Thompson, G. B. T1 - CALPHAD-informed density-based grain boundary thermodynamics N2 - The Gibbs free energy of a grain boundary is a complex thermodynamic function of temperature, pressure, and composition. These complexities add to the intrinsic crystallographic and chemical constraints imposed by the adjacent bulk phase. Recently we have proposed a density-based model for assessing grain boundary thermodynamics that enables a CALPHAD-informed description of the grain boundary. As such, the Gibbs free energy of the grain boundary is directly linked with available CALPHAD thermodynamic data. In this talk, new aspects of interfacial segregation and phase transformation are revealed by benchmarking the current model for various experimental cases, including several steels, high-entropy alloys and aluminum alloys. The effects of elastic interactions on the grain boundary segregation and the application of the model to a nanocrystalline Pt-Au alloy, with numerous grain boundaries of various characters, will be discussed. T2 - DPG (Deutsche Physiker Gesellschaft) CY - Online meeting DA - 27.09.2021 KW - Density-based model KW - Defects thermodynamics KW - Defects phase diagram KW - CALPHAD KW - Crystal Defects PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53556 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - Interfacial Spinodals N2 - Despite their finite spatial extent, interfaces can have profound impacts on microstructure properties. This is because of their distinct phase-like properties distinguishing them from the adjacent homogeneous bulk structure. When noticed by solute atoms, interfaces can experience their own chemical phase changes. In this talk, we investigate the constrained states of chemically decomposed phases at interfaces. A density-based theory of interfaces is proposed to describe the confined chemical decomposition at general grain boundaries. Here the grain boundary is viewed as a lesser dense, defected structure with reference to the corresponding bulk structure. Using this picture, the thermodynamic origins of interfacial spinodal phenomena are revealed. We also show that transient interfacial spinodals can be activated over a large alloy composition range, enabling kinetic engineering of interfacial chemistry. T2 - TMS 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 15.03.2021 KW - Microstrucrue Design KW - Spinodal Decomposition KW - Interfacial Spinodal PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52338 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - CALPHAD integrated grain boundary co-segregation design: Towards safe high-entropy alloys JF - Journal of Alloys and Compounds N2 - Along with the desire for developing novel multi-principal element alloys, also known as high-entropy alloys, the concern about their safe application is also increasingly growing. This relates to the alloys’ phase stability, in particular, the control required over unexpected phase decompositions resulting from solute segregation at grain boundaries. Yet, the mechanisms of co-segregation and grain boundary phase decomposition in multi-component alloys are rather challenging to explore. In fact, quantitative investigation of grain boundary behaviors is mostly conducted for binary and a few ternary alloys. In this work, we apply the recently introduced CALPHAD-integrated density-based formalism [RSC Advances 10 (2020) 26728-26741] for considering co-segregation phenomena in alloys with an arbitrary number of components —the term ‘co-segregation’ here refers to co-evolution and any mutual interplay among the solute atoms during their interaction with a grain boundary. Quaternary Fe-Co-Mn-Cr alloy system is studied. We present two major advances beyond previous results: First, a co-segregation-induced multi-component grain boundary spinodal decomposition is quantitatively simulated for the first time. We found that in addition to its low cohesive energy and asymmetrical mixing enthalpy due to magnetic ordering, Mn plays a leading role in triggering interfacial phase decomposition by having a relatively large, concentration-dependent atomic mobility. Second, as an alternative to grain boundary phase diagrams proposed for binary and ternary alloys, we introduce the concept of co-segregation maps for grain boundary segregation screening and design in multi-component alloys. Applying the co-segregation maps, the nonlinear Mn and Cr co-segregation are discussed. Depicted on the alloying composition and phase space, the co-segregation maps enable the required insights to guide a safer, more controlled design of high-entropy alloys. KW - High-Entropy Materials KW - Density-based Phase-Field Modelling KW - CALPHAD KW - Alloys' Safety PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.167717 SN - 0925-8388 VL - 933 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-56274 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wallis, Theophilus A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - Grain boundary structural variations amplify segregation transition and stabilize co-existing spinodal interfacial phases JF - Acta Materialia N2 - Grain boundaries (GBs)’s role in determining the functional and mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials is inscribed in both their structure and chemistry. Upon solute segregation, the structure and composition of a GB can change concurrently. We study the co-evolution of GB’s structure and segregation by enhancing the density-based phase-field model to account for the in-plane structural variations in the GB. Significant mutual coupling is revealed between the GB’s chemical and structural states during Mn segregation in Fe-Mn alloys. We found that the structural degrees of freedom in a GB (the ability of the GB structure to respond to the chemical variation) amplifies Mn segregation transition, even when the GB structure stays unchanged. When the GB structure is not uniform, that is the usual case, the coupling between GB structure and segregation evolution also enables the spinodally formed low- and high-Mn phases (upon segregation transition) to co-exist within the GB region. These findings explain the stabilizing mechanism of pronounced interfacial segregation fluctuations, experimentally evidenced in Fe-Mn GBs, and give new insights on the structural sensitivity of GBs’ segregation phenomena and the mutual chemo-structural interplay. KW - Grain boundary engineering KW - Segregation engineering KW - Grain boundary structure KW - Fe-Mn steels PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.118446 SN - 1359-6454 VL - 242 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-56160 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - Grain Boundary Segregation Design using CALPHAD-integrated Phase-Field Modelling N2 - A main source of current challenges in materials science and engineering is the ever-increasing complexity in materials chemistry and processing resulting in complex microstructures, making the assessment of process-microstructure-property-performance relations difficult, even unmanageable. Here the computational materials science is facing the same situation. In this talk, I share a viewpoint that the complexities in chemistry, processing and microstructures can be circumscribed by integrating existing knowledges of bulk thermodynamics and kinetics to the unknown thermodynamics and kinetics of microstructure elements. To this end, I discuss several successful examples on grain boundary segregation engineering how this scientific advance can be conducted. A roadmap is proposed, beginning to form on generalizing the concept of phase diagrams. T2 - ICAMS Advance Discussions: Advanced models for microstructure evolution – process-microstructure-property relationships CY - Bochum, Germany DA - 26.10.2022 KW - Microstructure Design KW - CALPHAD KW - Phase-Field Simulations KW - Machine Learning KW - Phase Diagrams PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56348 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza T1 - CALPHAD integrated density-based phase diagrams and opening possibilities for grain boundary engineering N2 - Engineering grain boundaries demands a quantitative description of both their segregation and specific phase behavior. Recently I have proposed a density-based model for grain boundary thermodynamics that enables CALPHAD integrated derivation of grain boundary phase diagrams, broadly applied now in studying various alloys. Combining this model with experimental investigations, in this talk, new aspects of interfacial segregation and phase transformation revealed in polycrystalline alloys are discussed. The effect of elastic interaction on grain boundary phase behavior is incorporated. We consider Al alloys and novel high-entropy alloys and discuss a general strategy for grain boundary engineering. T2 - 18th Discussion Meeting on Thermodynamics of Alloys (TOFA) CY - Krakow, Poland DA - 12.09.2022 KW - CALPHAD KW - Microstructure Design KW - Materials Modelling PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56044 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -