2D and 3D simulation of grain growth in olivine aggregates using a full field model based on the level set method

•New numerical approach for microstructural evolution modeling in Earth Sciences.•Comparison with existing numerical approach for microstructural evolution modeling.•Comparison between 2D and 3D grain growth modeling.•Quantification of the pure olivine grain growth kinetics. In this study, we investigate grain growth within pure olivine systems through numerical simulations. The level set (LS) approach within a finite element (FE) context enables modeling 3D microstructural evolutions such as grain growth. As this phenomenon is inherently a 3D mechanism, the comparison between 2D and 3D models shows differences despite the use of 2D/3D transformation tools. The 2D level set approach is then compared with 2D models of grain growth performed with the ELLE software.1https://www.elle.ws.1 Both approaches give consistent results. Our results confirm the rapid annealing of fine grained structures in pure olivine aggregates at temperatures of 1473 and 1573 K. Comparison with previously published experimental results yields an estimate of the activation energy at 171–180 kJ·mol−1 for olivine grain boundary mobility.