Effect of anisotropy in thermal conductivity on grain boundary migration under temperature gradient – A phase field study

Abstract

This work developed a phase field model to investigate the grain boundary migration in β-Sn under temperature gradient. It is demonstrated that the directional migration velocity of grain boundaries driven by the temperature gradient depends on the grain orientations. The grain boundary migrates faster when the grain at the cold side has a higher thermal conductivity, though the temperature gradient in the grain is lower. The migration velocity difference due to the anisotropy in thermal conductivity is larger under higher temperature gradient. It is revealed that faster grain boundary migration of the grain with higher thermal conductivity is induced by the higher heat flux across the grain boundary.