Extending phase field models of solidification to polycrystalline materials

We present a two-dimensional phase field model of grain boundary statics and dynamics. We begin with a brief description and physical motivation of the crystalline phase field model. The description is followed by characterization and analysis of several microstructural implications: the grain boundary energy as a function of misorientation, the liquid–grain–grain triple junction behavior, the wetting condition for a grain boundary and stabilized widths of intercalating phases at these boundaries, and evolution of a polycrystalline microstructure by solidification and impingement, followed by both grain boundary migration and grain rotation. Simulations that demonstrate these implications are presented, with a description of the numerical methods that were used to obtain them.