Self-organized multigrain patterning with special grain boundaries produced by phase transformation cycling

Yipeng Gao, Yongfeng Zhang, Benjamin W. Beeler, and Yunzhi Wang

Phys. Rev. Materials 2, 073402 – Published 23 July 2018

Abstract

In crystalline solids, grain boundaries (GBs) play a significant role in determining a large number of material properties. The design and synthesis of special GBs has been a long-standing challenge in materials science and engineering. Here we demonstrate a mechanism to produce special GBs. Unique multigrain structures can be obtained through cyclic, diffusionless phase transformations under external fields, with all GBs being coherent special GBs. The crystallographic character of the GBs produced in this way is dictated by the broken symmetry during the phase transformations, while the topology of the GB network is determined by the geometric compatibility and self-organization of the multigrain structures. Such a mechanism not only suggests an alternative method of GB engineering, but also reveals a fundamental relationship between special GBs and phase transformations from a crystallographic point of view.

Received 26 February 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.073402

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Crystal symmetry Grain boundaries Phase transitions Solid-solid transformations

Solid-solid interfaces

Symmetries in condensed matter

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsInterdisciplinary Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Yipeng Gao^1,2,*, Yongfeng Zhang², Benjamin W. Beeler², and Yunzhi Wang^1,†

¹Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Watts Hall, 2041 College Road, Ohio 43210, USA
²Department of Fuel Modeling and Simulations, Idaho National Laboratory, 2525 Fremont Avenue, Idaho 83415, USA

^*Corresponding author: yipeng.gao@inl.gov
^†Corresponding author: wang.363@osu.edu