Role of interfacial surface anisotropy on liquid grooving at grain boundaries: A phase-field study

Engineering materials are polycrystalline in nature, consisting of numerous single crystals interconnected through a three-dimensional interfacial network known as grain boundaries. Often essential in defining the performance and durability of materials, grain boundaries attract considerable attention during alloy development. Initially, we employ a multi-phase-field model and validate the phenomenon of grain-boundary grooving under isotropic energy conditions, with bulk diffusion as the dominant mass transport mechanism. Subsequently, we investigate the effects of interfacial surface anisotropy and crystal misorientation on groove formation. This present study focuses on the effects of interfacial surface anisotropy and crystal misorientation and, thus, allows us to draw comparisons between the effects of different physical phenomena on the grain-boundary behavior. It is observed that the groove kinetics accelerate as a result of fourfold anisotropy, with groove root deepening proportional to the imposed anisotropic strength. Furthermore, the phase-field results presented here align well with theoretical predictions. In addition, we briefly study on the effect of solid–solid anisotropy on the groove root position. We anticipate that the simulated liquid groove and its precise measurement will serve as important tools for studying the relative energies of grain boundaries.