Grain Boundary Dynamics: A Novel Tool for Microstructure Control

The reaction of grain boundaries to a wide spectrum of forces is reviewed. Curvature, volume energy and mechanical forces are considered. The boundary mobility is strongly dependent on misorientation, which is attributed to both grain boundary structure and segregation. In magnetically anisotropic materials grain boundaries can be moved by magnetic forces. For the first time a directionality of boundary mobility is reported. Flat boundaries can also be moved by mechanical forces, which sheds new light on microstructure evolution during elevated temperature deformation. Curvature driven and mechanically moved boundaries can behave differently. A sharp transition between the small and large angle boundary regime is observed. It is shown that grain boundary triple junctions have a finite mobility and thus, may have a serious impact on grain growth in fine grained materials. The various dependencies can be utilized to influence grain boundary motion and thus, microstructure evolution during recrystallization and grain growth.