Grain Boundary Wetting in Polycrystals: 1. Probability of Wetting of Structural Elements

A model describing the wetting of structural elements in polycrystals such as grain boundaries (faces), triple lines (edges), and quaternary nodes (vertices) is proposed. It is assumed that the only driving force during wetting is the tendency of a system to the energy minimization due to the substitution of low-energy liquid–solid interfaces for high-energy grain boundaries. In this case, the anisotropy of grain boundary energy caused by the differences in misorientation of adjacent grains is taken into account, whereas the liquid–solid interface energy is assumed to be independent of the orientation. The well-known condition of grain boundary wetting (the Gibbs–Smith condition) is extended to the triple lines and quaternary nodes by introducing parameters determined as characteristic free energy of these elements.