Particle translational motion and reverse coarsening phenomena in multiparticle systems induced by a long-range elastic interaction

The kinetics of multiparticle coarsening controlled by a long-range elastic interaction is considered. Without any a priori assumptions concerning the morphology of coarsening particles, it is shown that translational motion and reverse coarsening are two important mechanisms responsible for the morphological evolution of initially randomly distributed new phase particles into a regular array in an elastically anisotropic crystal. The general characteristic of the strain-induced coarsening in a multiparticle system is determined by the tendency to form a pseudoperiodical precipitate macrolattice which minimizes the elastic strain energy. It is consistent with previous thermodynamic analyses for two-phase systems with a strong long-range elastic interaction.