Cellular automaton modelling to predict multi-phase solidification microstructures for Fe-C peritectic alloys

Abstract

In this study, we developed a cellular automaton (CA) model to simulate the multiphase microstructural evolution of the solidification of Fe-C binary peritectic alloys. Three phases were considered in the model: δ, γ, and liquid (L). To simulate microstructures formed by the peritectic transformation, moving interfaces at δ-γ, δ-L, and γ-L transformations were introduced for diffusion-controlled growth. The coarsening growth of γ grains after solidification of peritectic alloys was modelled using the CA method. Numerical simulations of multi-phase microstructure evolution for hyper-peritectic and hypo-peritectic alloys were performed in two and three dimensions. In these simulations, the nuclei of γ phases were formed at the δ/L interface below the peritectic temperature. After nucleation of the γ phase in hyper-peritectic alloys, the δ phase in the calculation domain disappeared before γ solidification was completed. Conversely, in hypo-peritectic alloys, the L phase disappeared before the δ-γ transformation was complete. Moreover, the coarsening of γ grains occurred for both alloys after the end of the peritectic transformation. These outcomes agree with the fact that the phase transformation of alloys involves the solidification of peritectic alloys. Thus, we confirmed that the proposed model was a valid approach to simulating multi-phase microstructures formed by the solidification of peritectic alloys.