EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX MICROSTRUCTURES

Katsuyo Thornton

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

University of Michigan

Coarsening is prevalent in many materials systems ranging from metals to polymers. In many cases, the microstructures are highly complex and interconnected. Despite the clear importance of the coarsening process, the evolution of three-dimensional complex microstructures during coarsening is not yet well understood. In conjunction with experiments capturing the full three-dimensional nature of the structure, phase-field simulations have provided insights into the mechanisms by which topologically complex microstructures evolve. Characterization of the microstructure using analyses of the three-dimensional curvature and the interfacial shape distribution (the probability of finding a patch of interface with a given pair of principal curvatures) is shown to be a useful tool for quantifying the evolution of the morphology of the microstructure. Furthermore, genus and other topological quantities provide information regarding connectivity of the phases, an influential factor in material properties. The evolution of complex microstructures is discussed quantitatively by examining the results of these analyses.