Quantitative Metallography for Computer Simulation of Abnormal Grain Growth in Three Dimensions

Abstract

Abnormal grain growth in three dimensions has been simulated using a fcc lattice with a Monte Carlo technique. The technique is fundamentally the same one as had been employed successfully by Exxon group to model grain growth, recrystallization and so on. The microstructural evolution, the grain volume distribution and the geometrical features of grain have been studied in stereology or quantitative metallography. The growth of abnormally large grains is modelled appropriately in three dimension, which is reflected distinctly as the change in volume frequency of the grain size distribution. The standard deviation for the grain volume distribution, lnσ_gV increases and the mean number of faces per grain, \barF_g decreases during abnormal grain growth. It is understood that the decrease of \barF_g is attributed to the larger decrement in the number of faces for neighbors than the increment for the abnormally-growing grain. In addition, the simulated results for the grain volume distribution and the relationship between the grain volume and the number of faces per grain are in good agreement with the experimental ones on normal grain growth.