Translation Order Domains of Coherent Particles in Ni Alloys During Coarsening.

Abstract

Coarsening of particles involves a reduction of the total energy of the system. In fluids, the tendency for larger particles to grow at the expense of smaller ones is driven by the reduction of the total surface energy. In solids, the elastic strain energy Eel also needs to be considered. Reduction of Eel gives rise to particle alignment along elastically soft directions and changes of morphology as the particle volume increases. In addition according to several authors, reduction of Eel produces the splitting of particles that reach a critical size. Regular arrays of two, four and eight particles have been observed and explained in terms of splitting. However, splitting is unlikely from a micromechanical standpoint or as a consequence of the elastic interaction between particles. This investigation deals with the determination of translation order domains in coherent γ′ particles.