Modeling of plate-like precipitates in aluminum alloys-comparison between phase field and cellular automaton methods

This report compares two approaches for simulating microstructure evolution of plate-like precipitates during artificial ageing of aluminum alloys: the phase field and the cellular automaton methods. Although both methods are based on thermodynamics, they handle the kinetics in quite different ways, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Both methods were applied to the growth of semi-coherent plate-like θ′ precipitates in Al-4 wt% Cu. Good agreement is found between the results of these two models, as well as experiments. A combination of these two methods would provide a novel approach that is both physically sound and computationally effective for the application of precipitation modeling.