The application of phase-field models to microstructure evolution in multi-phase and multi-component alloys

Guest Speaker： Prof. Nele Moelans，KU Leuven，Belgium

Inviter: Assoc.Prof. Hong Liu

Date&Time: Tuesday, 8.Apr., 10:00-11:30

Venue: Yiucheng Lecture Hall（500），Xu Zuyao Building

Biography:

Nele Moelans is a professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at KU Leuven, where she leads  the Structural Composites and Alloys, Integrity and Nondestructive Testing division. She earned her PhD from KU Leuven in 2006 and was a postdoctoral fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) from 2006 till 2010. During this time, she was also a visiting researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2008 till 2009. In 2010, she was appointed as professor at KU Leuven.

Her research is focused on the development and application of phase-field models to simulate microstructure evolution in materials. She has recieved a prestigious ERC Grant from the European Commission and actively participates in various national and international projects. Her expertise includes the integration of phase-field models with CALPHAD Gibbs energies, diffusion models, anisotropy and micromechanical models. Currently her research applies the phase-field method to study phenomena such as dendrite growth in Li-ion batteries, microstructure formation during metal AM, H-induced embrittlement in steel,  liquid-phase sintering of Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet materials, the recovery of PGM nanoparticles, and martensitic transformations in Ti-alloys. 

Nele Moelans has authored over 130 publications in internationally reviewed journals and delivered more than 40 invited lectures.

Abstract:

Multi-component alloys exhibit intricate microstructure evolution, providing materials engineers with an almost limitless array of possibilities to enhance material properties. A number of recent discoveries has largely increased interest in multi-component alloys, such as high-entropy and multi-principle-element alloys. These alloys give access to unique combinations of properties that are unattainable in alloys based on a single major element.

Phase-field models hold great promise as a powerful tool for computer-aided design and optimization of multi-component alloys. They can simulate the evolution of complex, multi-phase microstructures during processes such as phase transformations, deformation and annealing. They account for various phenomena, including bulk and grain boundary diffusion, transformation strains, and anisotropy in bulk and interface properties. However, a detailed description of the model parameters as a function of composition is required to obtain quantitative results, but often difficult to obtain and computationally expensive to handle in the simulations.

This presentation will discuss the latest advancements in phase-field modeling for multi-component and multi-phase alloys allong with the remaining challenges. It will illustrate the advantages of integrating phase-field models with data driven models, such as tensor decomposition and neural networks, and demonstrate the importance of accounting for composition dependence in the simulations.