On the globularization of the shapes associated with alpha-precipitate of two phase titanium alloys: Insights from phase-field simulations

Abstract In two-phase titanium alloys, α-precipitate exhibits plate morphology which spheroidizes during static globularization. The stability of the 3-dimensional plates to withstand perturbation is well-established. However, based on Rayleigh instabilities, the current understanding rendered by ‘the modified perturbation theory’ holds that the spheroidization of the plates is governed by the stable growth of the ridges. To address this counterintuitive view, a multiphase-field model, which recovers the sharp interface solutions, is employed to investigate the morphological transformation accompanying globularization of shapes that resemble α-precipitate. The present investigation unravels an alternate mechanism, wherein the plates globularize by the successive formation and decay, by lateral expansion, of multiple terminal perturbations. This unique mode of spheroidization, distinctly, characterizes the temporal evolution of the driving force which contradicts the hitherto assumed conventional monotonic-decrease in the curvature-difference. Particularly, it is identified that the ellipsoidal plates exhibit a step-wise change in the curvature-difference while non-monotonic series of peaks are observed during the evolution of the pancake structures. To aid the optimization of the thermal cycle involved in the globularization treatment, a simplified relation between the aspect ratio and spheroidization time, which encompasses the influence of the transformation mechanism, is derived.