Grain-boundary segregation and dynamic solute drag theory—A phase-field approach

We propose a model based on a phase-field approach to study grain-boundary segregation and solute drag. We will show that it is possible to model the dynamics of grain-boundary segregation to a stationary boundary as well as solute drag on a moving boundary with the same phase-field model. We shall achieve this by introducing a concentration dependency in the height of the double-well potential in the Gibbs-energy expression. As the model then will be able to treat the build-up of a concentration spike in the boundary as well as its disappearance we shall term this treatment dynamic solute-drag theory.