The effect of the curvature of a grain boundary network in the three-dimensional polycrystal on the response to a cyclic thermal loading: an FEM study

Abstract

In this work, the effect of curvature of the grain boundary network in a polycrystalline material under external loading on the mechanical field distribution is examined. First, a three-dimensional digital voxellated polycrystal is generated using the Monte Carlo Potts model in the context of normal grain growth. Then, three-dimensional conformal, smoothed surface mesh elements on the grain boundary network of the such a digital microstructure are created using a set of both in-house codes. From surface mesh, the three-dimensional conformal volume elements are created using a commercial package. Finally, a finite element method (ABAQUS) is used on the resultant mesh elements to simulate the mechanical response inside the polycrystal under cyclic thermal loading. Specifically, we compared mechanical fields distribution inside the polycrystal as the grain boundary curvature changes.