Influence of grain size evolution on convective instability

Abstract

Grain size, one of the most important microstructural properties of materials, evolves during creep deformation to minimize the free energy of polycrystalline aggregates. We apply a model of grain size evolution to the study of convective instability of cooling boundary layers. The grain size evolution model is coupled to a composite rheology where the deformation rate is the sum of that due to dislocation creep and grain size sensitive diffusion creep. The onset of convection is sensitive to grain growth rates and the initial grain size. The formation of convective instabilities is enhanced by stresses induced by plate motions; therefore small‐scale convection is more likely to occur beneath fast‐moving plates. In finite amplitude convection, grain size evolution leads to high viscosity in regions where convective stresses are low and can induce viscosity contrasts exceeding one order of magnitude. Such viscosity contrasts are sufficient to influence the dynamics of convection, often leading to domains which remain isolated from the well‐mixed convecting fluid. A composite viscosity including diffusion creep, which has a lower activation energy than dislocation creep, reduces the effective temperature dependence of viscosity.